Grad Green

Cell Phone Update

2010-01-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I was pondering whether or not to get a cell phone. Well, I finally bit the bullet and got one. Now, here's my review:

Pro:
* I like having my own number. Friends can call me and know they will get me.
* It can be nice to have the phone when I'm out and want to call my husband and ask a question (what kind of batteries do we need, for example).

Unrelated to me pro:
* My husband needs a cell phone. He has had to call for rescue a couple of times from long bike rides.

Con:
* We have terrible reception in my house, so I usually have to talk outside, regardless of the weather or the huge deer looking at me in the front yard.
* I don't like to talk on the phone when I'm in a store or at another person's house, so I don't answer it at those times (generally). I also turn it off at work. I don't like to talk when I'm driving or when I'm walking somewhere... or ... just about any time that I'm out of the house. So what's the point? 95% of the time that I talk on the cell I am at home. Hmmm...
* I think that texts are sort of anti-social and expensive. I make/receive about 15 texts a month for about 5 dollars. Do the math. Worth it? No.
* I keep losing the darn phone in my house and have to use my husband's phone to call it and find it.
* My 8 year old could use the phone to call 911, but I really doubt that my younger kids could figure out how to unlock the phone and call 911. If they even knew where it was.
* I hate checking the voice mail. I much prefer listening to messages on the answering machine -- OR -- better yet :) -- screening messages on the answering machine.
* I thought that I wouldn't get trash phone calls, but the girl who had my number before me gets strange texts from a guy and many MANY collection calls. Awesome.

For two lines and a minimal minutes plan, we pay about 90 dollars a month. That is more than double our previous land line charge.

I think we made a mistake. We should probably just have a cell phone for my husband and a land line for me and the house. The cell phone really annoys me and is a rip off.

Colloidal Oatmeal -- What's the Deal?

2010-01-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of oatmeal baths. Actually, it may be just an extension of my general philosophy of sickness -- just about anything can be treated with tea and a warm bath. Sore throat? Tea, bath. Tummy ache? Tea (peppermint or ginger) and bath. Cramps? Tea, bath. Feeling terrible, depressed, whatever? Tea with plenty of sugar. Bath. Maybe turn off the lights and have bath by candlelight. Ahhhh....

Eczema? Hives? Bath. Tea would be soothing -- it always is -- but not necessary in this case. Although I guess it could help to be more hydrated in the case of eczema.

Anyway, the point is.... little E (my 4 yo) has terrible eczema. Last night she cried. It was awful. Her legs were covered in raised red blotches and she had scratched her belly and legs to the point of drawing blood. So, I went to the store and bought the whole anti-itch spectrum of products.

One of the products that I always rely on is colloidal oatmeal -- E really enjoys an oatmeal bath and it does seem to be very soothing. Just make sure to use lukewarm, NOT HOT, water because hot water just exacerbates skin problems. Normally I buy Aveeno oatmeal, but my supermarket also offered (for 2 dollars less) a large bag of colloidal oatmeal -- considering the number of baths it would work for, it was at least half the price of Aveeno. I looked at the ingredients -- both were 100% colloidal oatmeal, so I opted for the less expensive option.

When I got home, I started to wonder.... what the heck is colloidal oatmeal? Is it just finely ground oatmeal? What's the deal?

The package says not to eat the oatmeal. Colloidaloatmeal.com (no kidding) says the same thing. But the same website gives instructions on making colloidal oatmeal -- basically, you just grind up oats (not an package of instant oatmeal!) to a very fine consistency. A coffee grinder would probably work fine. That would be a HUGE savings.

So why does the package say not to eat it? Is finely ground oatmeal a danger? Or are they using some sub-human grade of oat? Maybe it's just gross? Who knows....

Another advantage of the oatmeal bath is that it's naturally cleansing because of saponins in the oats that attract dirt and oils (source). Little eczema sufferers should not be using soap because it is very harsh and drying, so any cleansing that comes through oatmeal is a nice bonus :)

So.... note for future:
Aveeno oatmeal baths (8 packets) -- 6.99 on Drugstore.com
Giant bag of colloidal oatmeal -- <4.99 at HEB
grind oats -- <1.00/pound

It's awesome when it's less expensive to be green. No trip to the store. No extra packaging. Just grind the oats you already have. Beautiful

Make Something New -- Arroz Con Leche

2009-11-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

Me encanta el arroz con leche. Es delicioso.

I love arroz con leche. My husband and I have an ongoing "discussion" about it. He likes it soupy. I like it more like a pudding consistency. When I was in Spain I had it frequently -- it was cold and it was delicious -- and it was pudding-like, as arroz con leche should be (I think).

Actually, I prefer it warm, but that doesn't matter.

I made arroz con leche for the first time as a treat for my Spanish class. Here's the recipe:
(I googled it, but made some changes.)

4 c. milk (whole milk is optimal, but if it scares you, use the highest fat milk you are comfortable with... the recipe will still work)
1-1/4 c. water
1 c. rice (it's true ... you don't use much rice at all)
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 teas. salt
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. raisins, soaked in water to plump 'em up
2 teas. vanilla

Bring milk and water to a light boil. Stir in rice, add cinnamon sticks and cover and cook on low for about 30 minutes. Then, remove the sticks and add all other ingredients. Continue cooking on low heat for about 10 minutes.

As the arroz con leche cools, it will become more solid. We had it last night and it was a soupy consistency. By morning, it was solid and I had to add more milk.

It's delicious as a dessert or for breakfast. Raisins are optional but delicious. Some recipes say to add butter or a spoonful of brandy before serving. No need -- it's wonderful as is.

The best thing? Another cheapo magnifico food. I made a double recipe for about 5 dollars. If you don't have cinnamon sticks it doesn't matter -- just put a little cinnamon in. Even nutmeg will work in a pinch - I looked at many different recipes. The classic presentation uses cinnamon sticks, however.

Then, you sing:
"Arroz con leche
me quiero casar
con una viudita de la capital.
Que sepa coser
que sepa bordar
que ponga la mesa en su santo lugar."

And you are glad that we have moved on in priorities :)

Daisy Meeting -- Teach Kids to Sew

2009-11-16T21:50:00.000-08:00

My 2nd year daisies are working on their firefly patch. It's a kind of strange patch system, but the basic idea is that a firefly lights the way -- so the girls learn how to do something new. Ideally, they help each other learn something new. We are working on that.

I thought that sewing would be a nice way to start working on this patch. The girls in my troop are 6 -- most have very little sewing experience, but they are starting to have the fine motor skills necessary to sew. Plus, sewing is a lifelong skill and it's something that is best learned from another person.

So, for our meeting we made beanbag turkeys. I cut brown felt into two large circles, cut out some feathers out of more felt and a little triangle felt beak. The girls started by sewing on the beak. Then we carefully placed the feathers -- explaining to the girls that you have to put the feathers on the inside so that they will be on the outside when you turn the turkey right-side out. The girls sewed the turkeys together, filled them with beans, placed googly eyes, and the adult helpers stitched them up (this was a little too difficult for a 6 year old).

The girls were SOOOO proud and busy for the whole time. I was happy to see that everyone finished and was able to bring home a complete bean bag turkey.

So -- can you teach a six year old to sew? Yep.

A four year old? It hasn't worked so well in my house, but if your child rocks a lacing card, it could work.

Should you? Definitely. Kids like to know how to do something useful -- and sewing is a skill that everyone should have.

With real needles? Yep! I told the girls "These needles are real. They are sharp. If you poke yourself, you will bleed, so be careful." And they were. If you are going to teach a real skill, the child needs to use the real tools (to a reasonable extent of course -- don't give a 6 yo a chainsaw to go cut firewood!)

And they like it? For sure! It's kept my kids busy all week :) My son has actually had more fun sewing little bean bag creations than playing video games.

How much do 6 stitches cost?

2009-11-12T15:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the consensus in Gradgreenland is that unless we are dying, nobody goes to the ER. There is an urgent care place pretty close by and they do stitches, so we'll head there if anybody's bleeding.

I promised to report back on the cost of C's ER visit. Check it out (and remember, he HAS insurance, so this is the negotiated rate):

Physician services: 602.00 (the doctor cleaned his wound, gave him a shot of local anesthetic and gave him 6 stitches. Some areas could not be stitched.)

Hospital services: 2161.75 -- adjusted for insurance to 1405.14. I guess this includes the supplies, sitting in a room for a couple of hours, inadequate financial counseling, and the nurse who bandaged the wound.

Yowza -- $2007.15 total. C has a high deductible HSA, so we are responsible for most of that. I will be calling the hospital to see if this can be reduced at all.

Will there be other bills? Who knows.

It seems excessive, doesn't it?

What makes me extra mad is that the whole point of an HSA is that the patient will be able to have control of medical expenses, but I ASKED about the price of various things and nobody was able to give me even the most vague idea.

Keep in mind -- this was all for a cut on the elbow -- a pretty gross bloody cut -- but a non-life-threatening injury. It probably would have been okay, albeit gory, with no stitches at all.

Make Something New -- Onion Tart

2009-11-03T16:09:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago I made an amazing discovery -- onion tart. Wow! It's delicious and it's super cheap to make. A friend of mine brought some over and I liked it so much that I kept trying to save it for a time that I could really appreciate it. Because of all my waiting around for the perfect moment, C got to a good portion of the tart before I could.

This month, my goal is to make something new at least once a week. Something I've NEVER made before. I want to 1) get out of my food rut and 2) try to expand my horizons.

Although I am a major proponent of scratch baking, I don't make pie crust. I buy pie crust. It comes in a package, wrapped in plastic and it's pretty darn convenient.

But, what exactly is IN that packaged pie crust? And it's kind of expensive considering what I discoverd when I decided to make my own.

Tonight I made pie crust for my onion tart. All by myself. And I found out something amazing.

Pie crust has 3 ingredients:
-butter
-flour
-some spoonfuls of water

How can that be?

I whipped up the crust very easily. I'm not saying it was the best crust in the world, but I made it myself, and I am proud :)

I filled it with 3 large carmelized onions cooked in a few tablespoons of butter -- all of that mixed with 2 beaten eggs. The recipe I found did not call for cheese, but I had some fancy cheese and sprinkled it over the top.

Yum!

So, if you want to make onion tart, you only need a few ingredients that you probably already have. That is what is so genius about this recipe. All you need is:
onions
eggs
flour
butter
cheese (optional)
bacon (optional)
salt -- the recipe did not call for salt, but I put a little in.

Stitches and Wound Care

2009-11-01T10:54:00.001-08:00

C had a bike accident last week and was taken to the ER for stitches. This brought up lots of questions:

Q:Why did he have to wait 2 hours with an open bleeding wound before he was given any local anesthetic for the pain?
A: Because they were collecting his insurance information. Duh. By the time I met him at the hospital he was shaky and pale. Pobrecito.

Q: How much does it cost to get stitches at the ER?
A: Nobody knows. But they will be happy to collect your insurance information. If you decide that you would like to leave before the stitching takes place, you will still be charged for triage. How much? No one there can/will tell you.

Q: Should the stitched wound be bandaged or allowed to air dry?
A: At the hospital, we were told to keep it covered for 1-2 days and then let it air. It was too disgusting to look at, so I encouraged C to cover it up. I also consulted a wound care specialist and she told me that it should be covered and to keep antibiotic ointment on it. Nobody at the hospital said anything about antibiotic ointment.

Q: So, who's right?
A: Well, this blog has a lovely visual that explains why it should be covered. However, there is a reference to band-aid at the end, so perhaps that's not non-biased. Familydoctor.org says that it is not necessary to cover the wound unless it will get dirty or unless it covers "a large area of the body". Ick. Dr. Sears says to cover it for the first 48 hours and not to let a scab build up (this is also what we were told at the hospital). Seattle Childrens has similar advice.

Q: Should a wound be covered if it is grossing out other people?
A: Yes. It should also get antibiotic ointment and a dressing change once a day.

Q: Is removal of stitches covered in the mysterious amount charged in the initial ER bill?
A: Call the hospital. They won't tell you.

Q: Can a complete amateur remove stitches at home in less than 5 minutes?
A: Yep. You need alcohol, tweezers and scissors. Make sure everything is SUPER disinfected and clean (obviously). There are instructions all over the internet, and even videos on youtube (blech). All these sources (and I too, of course) say that it is not recommended to remove stitches at home.

Q: Did it hurt?
A: C said it pinched a little on the first stitch but then didn't hurt at all. :)

I think it's really messed up that nobody at the hospital could/would tell us 1) how much the visit would cost, 2) how much just triage would cost, 3) how much the medicines prescribed would cost or 4) whether or not stitch removal was included in the original ER visit. Thanks a lot Seton!

*I will be sure to update on how much stitches do cost. We really would have liked to know. Our health system is ridiculous.

Annoying Deer & Hunting Questions

2009-11-01T07:46:00.000-08:00

My neighborhood is full of deer. I don't live in the country -- I live in a residential area of Austin -- and I am SURROUNDED by deer.

I like deer. I think they're cute, beautiful, fun to watch, etc. But right now, I am very annoyed by them. I planted a tree -- they ate it. I planted a deer-resistant tree, and before I had a chance to put up a fence around it (ugly) -- they ate half of it. Freaking deer!

Many neighbors feed the deer, which is now illegal in Austin. Herds of deer roam the neighborhood, chomping at will. Can I plant a garden? Not without significant fencing infrastructure. Plus, the deer are starting to freak me out -- the bucks are fighting -- apparently this is the time to look for a lady deer -- and they have lost ALL fear.

I have to go into the front yard to make phone calls because I have terrible phone reception in the house -- frequently I have to run away from a deer that is scaring me -- they walk straight up to me -- looking at me with glazed eyes -- I shout at them and they DON'T MOVE. Ack!

My son likes to chase them -- I've told him that it's too dangerous. Deer can charge, and some of these deer have serious antlers.

So, I wonder.....

Can you hunt the deer? (I'm not a hunter, I'm just wondering.)
No. Illegal in the city limits.

What if you didn't care if it was illegal? (Again, I'm not a hunter, just wondering.)
After some research on the Texas Parks and Wildlife page and some deer processors, it seems that you might be able to tag the deer with your hunting license and bring it to a processor. Or, you could just process it in the backyard and no one would be the wiser. Apparently, you have to field dress a deer anyway, so you might as well finish the job.

But if you get caught, big trouble!

What about the deer that get hit by cars? Can you eat them?
Again, legally -- no. You should call Texas Parks and Wildlife and they will send someone out to pick it up. A few days later. There's currently a large trashbag on the side of our street labeled "Do not touch -- dead deer" Yuck. This varies from state to state.

But if the deer broke its neck and wasn't hit in the abdomen or something like that, again, you could sneak the deer home and butcher it. Totally illegal.

And finally, after googling "Deer hunting Texas" "Austin deer feeding" "Hit deer with car" and other such cheery phrases, I started to wonder -- can you save any money by hunting?

Well, it depends.

There's a post on that very topic at Free Money Finance. The consensus seems to be that it costs a lot of money to hunt -- you need a license, a gun, access to a truck (to transport the deer), and may need to pay to hunt on a hunting lease. Also, you have to pay to have the deer processed (unless you do it yourself). One site I looked at charged $70 to process a deer. That did not include making sausage, etc., which was over $2 a pound -- that's from your own meat! I found that sort of surprising.

But, I guess you could buy a license, go to a hunt on public land and borrow a friend's truck & gun and process the meat yourself. That would be a huge money saver. If you live on land with deer (again, not in my neighborhood, but out in the country), you could hunt for free there too.

Cost: Resident hunting license $25
Archery stamp endorsement $7 (interesting)
Hunter education (required) $15 or you can defer for one year for $10
Rifle/ammunition: borrow rifle; ammunition is surprisingly expensive -- maybe buy a couple of shells (is that the word?) from a hunting friend - $5
OR hunt with bow & arrow -- $0 (borrowed of course)
Annual Public Hunt Permit: $48

Total cost:
for hunting with borrowed rifle & deferred hunter education: $88 if you don't have land
For hunting with borrowed bow & arrow: $90 if you don't have land

This assumes you do the field dressing (which you already have to do) and process the deer yourself. I would assume that needs some equipment & perhaps additional freezer space. All in all, I don't think that hunting is a big money saver over buying meat at the store on sale. Of course, I guess you know where the meat is coming from....

So, how much meat do you get from a deer?

According to this site, if a hunter kills a 165 pound buck (field-dressed weight), he should expect 58.15 pounds of meat. So, let's assume that with borrowing all the needed hunting equipment and buying your friend dinner in exchange (or giving him/her some of your meat), it works out to about $2/pound. If you add in all the time you spend hunting/learning/borrowing/butchering, I hope you really like hunting. And that's assuming that you get a big buck.

But wait! C reminded me that you don't necessarily just go hunting once a year. In Texas you can kill 5 white-tail deer/year (3 max. with antlers). That certainly brings down the price per pound. Again -- you need a big freezer! I don't think you could eat enough deer meat to keep up with 5 deer killed just during deer season.

Now, is hunting a green option?
It doesn't seem to fit in with what many urban greenies do -- go vegetarian. But, since one of the big reasons to go veg is to reduce your impact on the earth (meat requires more resources, water, oil, etc. per pound than plants do to produce), hunting deer, particularly in an area that has overpopulated deer (due to the absence of natural predators) seems preferable to buying meat at the store. That is provided that you don't drive hundreds of miles to hunt deer that are fed deer pellets.

Is deer meat organic?
Well, in the case of my neighborhood, definitely not! (But that's illegal!)
In the wild? Hmmm... hard to say, but it is free range (unless fed pellets) and free of antibiotics.

Disclaimer: I'm not a hunter. I've only had deer sausage a couple of times. I think the deer are nice, but I am very mad about my dead dead trees. The deer population is insane in my neighborhood. Four deer in my front yard last night. Crazy.

I was just curious so I decided to do some research.

Frugal Underwear -- aka What do YOU wear under a leotard?

2009-10-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

My oldest girl (6 yo) is taking a gymnastics class. They have to wear a uniform to class -- the girls wear a leotard. She took dance last year and always wore underwear under her leotard -- yes, it stuck out a little bit, but who cares? She's a little kid. Plus, she usually wore a dance skirt.

This year, it's really obvious because of the cut of the leotard. You just can't tuck in the underwear. It doesn't work. I still didn't really care. Neither did she. But for two weeks in a row, the other girls in the class made fun of her. (Devil children!)

So, I tried to convince her to wear the leotard without underwear. She didn't want to. She said it felt funny. I understood. Honestly, going sans panties seems a little mature for a 6 yo, but what do I know? My gymnast friend explained to N that it is just like wearing a swimsuit, but N wasn't buying it.

She was really upset. She didn't want the other girls to make fun of her, but didn't want to have her panties showing.

I tried to find a high cut pair. No dice.

So, I found a great solution!

We took a pair of her underwear, cut the sides, and created a sort of tanga cut. She gets nice coverage and the feeling of underwear (no thong action, thank goodness) and no grief at class.

Money spent = zero
Solution = awesome (granted, it's a weird problem)

Is it better....

2009-10-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

to use regular plates and glasses instead of plastic or disposables if you keep breaking them?

I seem to be having a butterfingers problem. Last week -- broke a glass. Tonight -- broke a plate and a dessert bowl. What's going on? And that's not really an isolated incident. I figure that I break (accidentally!) about one plate or glass a month. Broken glass is not recyclable.

I guess I'm still ahead of the game, but sheesh! None of the information I've read about the benefits of reusables mentions breaking stuff.

Then there's the rag I used to wipe up the shards because I wasn't getting all of the micro-shards with the broom. I threw that away. At least I used a really gross rag.

And how about last week, when I was bringing home the groceries in lovely canvas bags, and then dropped one of the bags (how this happened, I don't know) that contained 2 bottles of wine. I ended up throwing away the bag because I just couldn't deal with all the shards of glass and didn't want to put it in the washer like that.

Birthday Edition

2009-10-26T14:41:00.001-07:00

We've been on a major spending cutback here in Gradgreenland. C and I have not bought anything other than food and a birthday gift for a kid birthday in the last few weeks.

So, then C's birthday came up. My students asked me what I got him for his birthday and I could tell they were shocked when my reaction was, "nothing".

Uh....

C and I pretty much agreed not to exchange gifts for the sake of exchanging gifts about 5 years ago. Not even birthday cards. He thinks they are a waste of money. I can see that. A handwritten note or even a romantic e-mail can get the point across. To tell the truth, better than any birthday card was the call he gave me a couple of weeks ago in the morning to check on me because I had been feeling bad. Sweet.

So, I didn't get my husband anything for his birthday. But he didn't want me to spend any money on anything. Instead, we'll be having one of his favorite dinners and I made him a cake. I even gave him a choice of flavors :)

I guess we're not a romantic couple -- but maybe we're just not into wasting money. I find it much more romantic to be friends with a man that I love and to do things together. We agree that we'd rather spend the money on a new couch or on a vacation than fritter it away on gifts that we don't really need.

That said, every now and then an awesome opportunity comes along. Great concert tickets, for example. And if that happens to fall near a birthday or Christmas, they get wrapped.

How many pairs of shoes do you need?

2009-10-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

More specifically, how many pairs of shoes does an 8 year old boy need?

I thought 2. He has a pair of sneakers and a pair of sandals. In case of emergency, he can wear the other. It might not always be ideal, but we live in Texas, and you can pretty much wear sandals all year round.

Then he got the sneakers COVERED in mud and filth. Monday morning came -- and they were still foul. I told him to wear the sandals. He told me they had poop on them. He showed me a VERY small stain -- could be poop -- but they're not stinky and we had to leave.

He refused to put them on. Stubborn child. He walked up the hill to school in his socks. There, my husband met us (he works at school and was meeting me to pick something up, thank goodness). Problem solved.

But I went home guilty, thinking, "am I an evil mom? Am I stingy with my kids because they only have 2 pairs of shoes? What's the norm?"

I tried to google an answer. I discovered that adults have WAAAAY too many shoes. But I couldn't find a solid answer for kids. So I asked a mom that I respect. She told me that her kids have 2 pairs. I don't feel so guilty anymore.

I think that all of us have become used to having way more clothes than we need, tons of extra shoes, socks, etc. And it leads us to not really take care of the things that we have. If I had really been thinking, J's shoes would have been washed as soon as we got back. But I was tired. If he had had an extra pair of sneakers, chances are the muddy ones would still be at the front door. But we don't really have a choice. We have to take care of them.

Some years ago, I traveled around South America with a small backpack. I'm a wimp, so I couldn't carry. Here's what I had for clothes:

Hiking boots
Sandals
3 pairs of socks (washed the socks at the hostal each night)
underwear -- probably 5 pair -- can't remember
3 t-shirts
1 pair jeans
1 pair shorts
1 pair PJ pants
fleece
long underwear

I traveled for months. I washed my clothes by hand and hung them to dry, or paid someone to do the same. I had to be careful. If I dripped something on my shirt, I had to quickly clean it up. I had to think about what I wanted to wear and where. If I knew that I would be visiting a cathedral, I couldn't be left with only shorts. Sometimes I wore multiple layers to keep warm. (South America can get very cold, especially in the mountains.) But it was a great feeling -- I could easily carry everything that I needed. I never had to pay a porter. I could carry my backpack onto the bus or airplane -- no checking necessary. In the whole time, there were only 2 problems:

1. On a camping trip in Ecuador, someone stole my boots from outside my tent. Luckily, I had my sandals, but I was not able to get new boots until I got back to a major city a few days later.

2. My brother and I went on a jungle tour and came back enlightened but disgusting. We stayed at a hostal to rest and wash EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, it started to rain. And didn't stop raining.... we had to pack our wet clothes back into our backpacks and travel to Quito in pajama pants and t-shirts... not exactly appropriate attire. So I guess the lesson is -- if you have a limited supply of clothing, you don't want it all wet (or muddy and/or poopy) at the same time.

P.S. How many pairs of shoes do YOU think is reasonable?

Stay out of the store! -- Cooking with what's on hand...

2009-10-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

So.... the gradgreen family is trying to save some money. That basically means 2 things:
1. Stop buying stuff
2. Cut down on grocery shopping

#2 seems kind of harsh. C's usual response is "but we have to eat!" I agree. I LOVE to eat, but I think that we can cut some of the expenses. We looked over our bills (don't worry, we pay the card off every month) and found that we had 23 separate trips to the grocery store last month. Holy Canoli. That's not how I want to spend my time.

So we agreed to work with what we have on hand... to the greatest extent possible. We have made a couple of trips to the store to re-stock milk, bread, peanut butter... you know... the staples. But the trips have been far less expensive than normal.

Here are some of the meals we've had:
1. Chicken pot pie. Thanks to S for the inspiration. We had frozen chicken and peas and some funky carrot sticks and broccoli. Chop chop chop with some onion. Make a delicious gravy. I'm not up to a pastry crust, but I made some homemade biscuit dough and baked it on top. Yummalicious.

I was really proud of myself for the biscuit dough, because I was SOO close to calling C on his way home and asking him to pick up a popping package of frozen biscuits. But that would have been lame. Homemade biscuits, especially the drop biscuit kind, are very easy to make.

2. Baked potatoes. This was an emergency dinner, so we microwaved the potatoes. They were organic russets, so a little smaller than the norm, which is perfect for the microwave. We had steamed broccoli on the side as well as a couple of veggie chicken patties that I cut into triangles. This dinner was a big hit and it was made out of true desperation.

3. Chicken soup. This is best made with chicken thighs because they have the most flavor, but I had a couple of chicken breasts. Add some onion, carrots, peas, rice.... wait a second... this is remarkable similar to chicken pot pie! Yet different, somehow.

4. Spaghetti and meatballs. I had spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, some leftover sauteed peppers and onions from a cookout and a couple of leftover hamburgers. Cut up the hamburgers -- cook in the sauce. Voila! Nobody even mentioned the fact that the meatballs used to be hamburgers.

Those of you who have kids have probably noticed that so much of what kids like depends on packaging. They don't like Kix, but if it has Shrek on the front, they do like Shrek cereal, etc. The same is true for leftovers. I fix the plates in the kitchen and nobody has to see all the parts coming together. Sometimes the result is even tastier than the first thing I made.

El Reciclaje -- Recycling in Spanish

2009-10-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited that today we started the community action chapter in Spanish class. Part of the chapter focuses on recycling. This gives me a legit way to talk to my (kid) students about what we can and can't recycle. I had already banned throwing away paper in the classroom :) and I make the students use one piece of paper over and over for warm-ups instead of starting on a fresh sheet of paper (Why do they want to do that? I don't get it.) I'm trying to think of something to really push the boundaries and learn Spanish at the same time. Ideas?

Tape

This year I have also been lashing out against tape. In an elementary school it's hard to be a purist about this, because tape is so prevalent. However, I tell the kids that it's better to glue than to tape because tape has plastic and will last forever. Maybe that's oversimplifying things. I'm pretty much making up my explanation, so I thought I'd consult Fake Plastic Fish. Sure 'nuff -- tape has plastic -- she encourages people to use either paper tape or something else.

In the meantime, my students are beginning to think I'm crazy. "She hates tape!" "She thinks the pencil sharpener is too loud!" "She cries out in pain if I throw paper in the trash!"

But come on. The pencil sharpener is REALLY loud. For Pete's sake... what happened to the pencil sharpeners that worked on people power? The electric ones stop class. It can't be money. The manual ones cost about $15 new. The electric ones? Around 30. Wow.

And the magic of giving a kid a little pencil sharpener with a catcher for the shavings? I don't see many of those. But "GGGGGGRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZ!!!!" in the middle of class? ALL the time.

Fixing Stuff

2009-10-04T14:48:00.001-07:00

A big problem nowadays is that it is many times less expensive and less hassle to replace something than it is to fix it.

The sole falls off your shoe? Replace it.
Your printer needs new ink? It's sometimes cheaper to buy a new printer (!?*#)
Bicycle tube gets a flat? Replace it. It's complicated to patch them.

But no!!! It may be easier sometimes to replace something, but in the long run, that's not the right thing to do. It's not the right thing for the planet -- it's a huge waste of resources -- and it's not a good lesson for our children. If something is worth having, it's worth taking care of.

I have 3 recent examples of how fixing something may be a pain, but it's worth it:

1. I bought a pair of shoes at Goodwill. They are awesome. They are SO cute. They cost 6 or 7 dollars. They're leather with wooden soles. Love 'em. But AFTER I bought them, I realized that one of the shoes was missing its rubber sole. And that the other one was about to fall off. So I brought them to the shoe hospital. About 40 dollars later (Gah!), I had a sweet pair of shoes.

Was it cheap? NO.
Was it worth it? Yep. I love these shoes. And they would have cost about 100 dollars new.

Incidentally, shoe repair is much more prevalent and less expensive in Latin America. When I was a frequent traveler, I used to bring my dead shoes to Latin America for revitalizing. Usually to the tune of less than $5 a pair.

2. My home phone stopped working. We decided that after many many year of love, the battery had probably worn out. I went to Radio Shack to get a replacement. It was about 20 dollars. Holy canoli! That's almost the cost of a new phone. But... I had the best ever response to the salesman who tried to sell me a new phone. Check it out: "I can't. My mother passed away 5 years ago and I have messages and songs from her recorded on my phone. I'm not buying a new phone." The salesperson sold me a battery.

3. My lamp stopped working. It just wouldn't turn on anymore. We had an extra lamp in the garage, so I tried to substitute, but I found out that I had a LOVE affair with my Tiffany lamp. I would get very grumpy every night when I had to read by the harsh harsh light of the substitute lamp. I told my husband that I would do anything to repair the lamp -- I was willing to pay $100.

Then I remembered my mother rewiring a lamp. Shoot. I can do that. I went to Lowe's. I bought a socket. It cost $3. I tried rewiring the darn lamp. It sort of worked. My husband brought the lamp back to Lowe's. The most awesome Lowe's worker ever tried several solutions, in the store, until he was able to fix it. For less than $10. No charge for the electrician consultation. He even gave us a new curly lightbulb.

That lamp cannot be replaced. It HAD to be fixed, and we found a way.

Anything worth having is worth taking care of.

Green Lawncare in Texas

2009-10-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Now that it's not such a depressing sight, I can report on the state of my lawn.

We bought a house in June. We live in Texas. You probably heard about the drought. It made the national news. We were gone for most of July. So, here's the situation:

June 1 -- beautiful lush green grass; we move in. We ignore the grass as we paint the house & move.
July -- we're gone. Continue ignoring grass. Call my brother mid-July after hearing from people all over the northeast about the drought. He waters the lawn. Once.
August 1 -- we come back to Texas. The grass is brown. And crunchy. When I tried to hand-water some of the grass in the back yard, it washed away. :/

Austin has water restrictions right now. We can only water lawns on Sundays before 10 am or after 7 pm. It has started raining again, which is sort of hard to believe after so little rain all summer long.

So what does the lawn look like now?

Well. It looks different. But not so bad. When we came back, I decided that we would just try to "save" a patch of grass in front of the house. There was also some grass under a big oak tree that had not done so bad, so I gave it a little hand-watering love (permitted under watering restrictions). I pretty much let the rest of the (huge) lawn go.

The grass is mostly St. Augustine, which is not the preferred grass for our area. A better choice would be bermuda or buffalo grass, which does not need as much water. So, a lot of it died. But some of it is coming back with the rain that we are having now, and starting to cover some of the bare patches. And then a large portion of the side yard is covered in a fluffy clovery substance. Not sure what it is.

We've planted a couple of native trees and are planning on planting some more. We are hoping that some more trees on the lot will help with erosion control (very important since our house backs up to a steep drop-off with a sometimes creek) and in the prevention of desertification. The grass underneath the tree was just so much happier than the grass in the burning sun.

When we get more organized, we will be replacing some of the grass with native plants and mulch or gravel. I'm still not totally sure what the best method is, so I will be doing some more research.

Mowing
I think that what helped the lawn look slightly better than surrounding lawns is that we weren't here to mow it. I've noticed that a couple of the neighbors have lawn services that cut the grass regardless of what's going on. I have seen one service cut the grass in the rain -- twice! Many people cut the grass very short and it really suffers in the sun when it is that short.

All About Lawns recommends the following care for a lawn during a drought:
1. let your lawn grow higher than usual
2. mulch the clippings
3. water in the morning
4. plant drought-tolerant grass
5. fertilize less
6. or let your lawn go dormant

It's funny that I did #1, 5 and 6 by default just by not being here :)

When we got back, we had the chance to try suggestion #2 -- mulch the clippings. Again, this is because of laziness and frugality, not because we read the suggestions at the time.

Our Lawn Mower
We bought a push reel mower -- the kind that uses no gas or electricity. It was under 100 dollars at Lowe's. I thought it was pretty cool that it came in a small box that I could easily pop in the back seat of my car. I wasn't expecting that in a lawn mower. I had the choice of paying 20 or 30 extra dollars for a bag, but I decided not to.

It's easy to push. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. My 8 year old son can push it with no problem. I mowed the lawn the other day in platform shoes and a dress. (Maybe not totally wise, but I was in a hurry). The only annoying thing is that EVERY STICK IN THE WHOLE YARD will get stuck in the blades and you have to stop and very carefully pull it out. I have to stop every couple of minutes, but other than that, the mowing thing is a breeze. This is also the reason that, although my son CAN mow the lawn, I don't think he's quite old enough to do it. I have no problem having him push the mower, but I'm afraid he might miscalculate the stick removal and take off a finger.

If the grass gets really tall or there are crazy weeds, the mower doesn't do the greatest job. Weeds really need to be weed-whacked or they just stay there, waving around in the middle of the lawn.

Mulching the cuttings
Again, this happened because of laziness and frugality. I could buy the bag or rake the cuttings. Didn't want to do either. I just left the grass fall. When it finally started raining, I noticed there were a couple of areas where the grass didn't seem to be growing back because it was all clumped with grass (this is called "thatch" in the lawn-care world), so I raked those areas. The rest of the lawn seemed to do just fine.

Mulching the cuttings is beneficial to the lawn if you don't let the lawn get too long. You should only be cutting about 1/3 of the blade of grass at a time. Ideally, the cuttings will fall INTO the lawn, helping the soil hold in moisture and providing some fertilizer. If the grass is so long that it covers the lawn, it just builds up thatch and makes it hard for the grass to grow.

Ahhh... the joys of home-ownership. Just a few months ago I was totally innocent of anything lawn-care related.

Recycling Pizza Boxes

2009-09-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

Every Friday, my school orders 20 pizzas. They come in a cardboard box. It's not coated with wax, so no worries there. We pass out tons of pizza and then toss the boxes in the trash (gasp!) OR we have this kind of face-off:

Rule Girl: Pizza boxes can't be recycled.
Green teacher: We can tear off the tops and recycle them. Those don't have any cheese or grease.
Green mom: Some of the bottoms don't have any grease either. Let's recycle those too!

After Green mom left, Green teachers (there were 3) were getting the cardboard ready for the bin and found several boxes that did (!) have grease on them. Ahhhh... the slippery slope. So I thought I'd find out what the real deal is on pizza boxes.

According to Earth911, pizza boxes CAN be recycled as long as you tear off any parts that have grease or food on them. The top of the box can usually be torn off and recycled with no problem.

According to the City of Austin recycling website, pizza boxes and any cardboard with food residue, should go in the garbage. I also checked another City of Austin site, in which you can look up things alphabetically. Under "P" for pizza, it says:
"Solid Waste Services cannot recycle pizza boxes due to food and grease contamination. Please put pizza boxes in your garbage cart."

Hmmmm... what a quandry.

Apparently, the people who sneak in contaminated boxes cause a problem. The grease and food contaminates the materials, causing wasted materials and money.

While searching around, I happened upon a pizza chain called Pizza Fusion, which offers a discount if you bring back your pizza box. Reusing. Interesting.

The conclusion seems to be that the City of Austin does NOT accept pizza boxes. Having seen what happened at school last week, I understand why. But it still seems okay to me to pull of the clean tops and recycle those. Of course, the boxes could be shredded or torn up for compost. But that's a lot of tearing during a 20 minute lunch period.

Any thoughts?

Green Daisy Scouts

2009-09-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our first Daisy Scout meeting of the year. Last year I struggled with the bottled water issue. This year, my co-leader and I just decided to be up-front about it and tell the snack moms what we wanted.

So, I sent out an e-mail saying something like this:
....in an effort to reduce our impact on the earth, we would like to eliminate the use of disposable plastic bottles at meetings. The troop will be providing cups for each girl and the person in charge of snack can send a pitcher of something to drink (such as juice) or the girls can drink water from the fountain.

Maybe some of the moms rolled their eyes. Who knows. But yesterday, the snack was grapes and apple slices with caramel sauce. The troop provided cups for each girl (I brought a selection of 8 from home) and the girls drank water. There was no trash created from the drinks. Yeah!

Newsweek Ratings

2009-09-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

Newsweek released a list of the "greenest" companies. Here's some of the highlights:

#1: HP
#10: Starbucks
#59: Walmart
#67: Whole Foods

Huh. I think it's odd that Walmart is scoring higher than Whole Foods. Even more interesting is that the reputation score (which is 10% of the overall score) is 100 for Walmart and only 50.41 for Whole Foods. What is this score based on? Advertising? It has to be.

Granted, Walmart has made great strides in reducing ts impact, but geez.

Starbucks is #10? With a score of 91.63 overall and 82.01 on green policies. How about all those cups? With the plastic tops? How about all the stuff in plastic bottles that they sell in the stores and then the store has nowhere to recycle the bottle? Hmmm?

How about the Starbucks near us that throws away all their pastries at the end of the day?

True, they do offer hormone-free milk now, but.... #10? Wow.

This list is bizarre and doesn't seem to really mean anything. I guess that it might encourage some companies to make changes so that they can move up in the lists, but maybe they just need to make people *think* that they are a green company, improving their reputation score, rather than actually make hard core green choices.

The best laid plans....

2009-09-22T16:52:00.001-07:00

of mice and men go oft awry.

The longer that I'm a mother (8 years now), the more I realize how little is really in my control. When I was pregnant with my first child, I had a birth plan. That got thrown out the window almost immediately. I thought I would train him to sleep on a schedule. Hah! I thought I would make his baby food -- he had no interest in baby food. Who knew?

I chilled more with my second. And even more with my third. I ended up nursing all over the place because I didn't want to hide or have to leave wherever I was. I nursed my third for more than two years, surprising even my more "granola" friends. It was easier... honestly... but it wasn't what I planned.

Other moms had told me that even though you think the work will get easier when they're in school, it doesn't. I never really understood that. But now I have all three in school (Hallelujah!) and I feel run off my feet. They get home, there's homework, extra reading, patrolling computer time, taking them to friends' houses, fixing dinner, wrangling them into some state of semi-cleanliness and then bed. Gah... it's exhausting. And I get off work by 2 pm everyday. How do people who work a 9 to 5 (or 6?) schedule do this?

It's satisfying and fun to watch them grow. I love them. And they're growing into little people who have more and more of their own personalities every day. But not necessarily what I planned. Of course, you can't plan what someone will be like.... but you get what I mean.

My oldest is maybe the most like me in personality. I feel like I really understand him. He does naughty stuff and I see where he's coming from.

My girls remind me a lot of my mother -- both the things I loved about her and the things that drove me crazy -- and sometimes those things were the same.

You have dreams for your children before you are born. But you can't really plan anything. You have ideas about being a parent -- but again, you can't really know what you'll be like until you're doing it. As a child, I never thought that I'd go crazy about a kid's messy room, but there I am. And now I look back on the way my parents raised me... and I think that they must have been amazingly patient and probably pretty tired.

Packing for Family Camping

2009-09-17T06:30:00.001-07:00

I never really found a packing list that I liked for the kind of trip that we took over the summer -- an extended car camping trip. What made it a little more complicated was that we drove from Texas to Maine, and we needed clothing appropriate for heat and cold.... and LOTS of rain.

Here's what we brought as far as camping supplies. Actually, no .... here's what we USED:

*tent -- large one-room tent (Hobitat 6 man tent from REI -- but we have camped in a large tent from Target and it was great)
*tarp -- we put the tarp inside the tent. It worked great. It POURED rain
*inflatable mattress for the parents
*pump for the mattress
*Sleeping pads for the kids:
nap mat -- sort of worked -- easy to clean (and there was a peepee accident in the night)
roll-up Thermarest sort of pad from Target -- not great -- never felt very fluffy
egg crate mattress cushion cut in shape of sleeping bag -- terrible -- absorbed moisture -- yuck!

I would recommend legitimate Thermarest cushions -- I have seen friends use these and they blow up really nicely -- or buy 2 queen air mattresses and a tent large enough to fit them both. Have 3 kids sleep sideways on the mattress in their sleeping bag.

*One large Maglite flashlight -- awesome
*2 small flashlights -- less awesome, but good for kid use
*Coleman 2 burner stove -- propane
*Storage container for all the cooking stuff
*silverware rolled up in a 3 zippered jewelry bag
*spatula
*corkscrew, bottle opener
*salt and pepper
*small bottle of oil
*all purpose seasoning mix
*5 plastic plates -- I'm sorry! -- I already had them -- I tried metal plates but they got hot and burned our hands.
*5 stackable cups -- useful for drinking & for eating cereal/soup
*3 sippy cups -- for drinks along the way -- I would probably use water bottles next time b/c the kids are getting too old for this
*waterproof box with matches & lighter
*A small package of fatwood for starting fires in times of desperation
*dish towel
*dish soap
*sponge
*3 camp chairs -- we didn't have room for more
4 sleeping bags -- one of them was really only a sleepover bag -- terrible!
3 small towels (kid size) for bathing

Along the way, we acquired:
*paper napkins from various stores & restaurants
*shredded paper to use in starting fires (we usually shredded the campground map from the last place)
*camp chairs -- my husband insisted we didn't have room for them, then we couldn't take it anymore and bought them along the way
*sticks -- to roast marshmallows :) I just sent the kids to find a straight stick and then we "sterilized" them over the fire. We all survived.
*a blanket -- you'll notice we only brought 4 bags and we are 5 people -- my husband left his sleeping bag behind and then did not want to buy one -- so he bought a blanket and wrapped up like a taco. This was fine for a while, but chilly in Maine.

More lists to come -- clothing & food.

Too Tired to Cook

2009-09-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

So, a new school year is upon us, and once again, I'm wiped out in the evening. Monday evening, in particular, is brutal. I work two jobs, the kids go to school, I help with homework, help my daughter with her reading, miraculously find the right outfits, and then send kids off to ballet and gymnastics. God help me.

At least all the activities happen on Monday, but sheesh! The last thing that I want to do is cook.

So, I looked into a number of companies that offer sort of homemade prepared meals. There is one nearby me, Dream Dinners, in which you go in and assemble the meals. It seemed sort of pricey and it was a big up-front financial commitment for meals I wasn't sure my family would eat.

Why not just another night of quesadillas? Well, to be honest.... I'm sick of quesadillas... and pretty much everything else I cooked all summer long. I wanted something a little fancy from time to time without dragging all the people out to a restaurant.

Then I got an e-mail at work. It seems there is a group of people who get food delivered from the Soup Peddler. This is an extremely cool concept. It all started with this guy in Austin who started selling soup and delivering it (in reusable containers) on his bike.

Now it's bigger, but still not too big. It's a little hole in the wall store. With incredible customer service. And the best soup ever.

The soup tastes homemade because it is. Only problem is -- the containers aren't the greatest. The soup comes in a plastic bag. Boo. The salads and quiches come in a recyclable plastic pie container. Recyclable, but plastic. Boo.

But I am a soupie. I can't help myself. And it's not just the soup. I just had the strawberry rhubarb crisp and it's so good that it makes me want to cry.

Does it help that I recycle the recyclables and it keeps me from running to the store at lunch time?

Oh Crud -- Hazardous Waste in the Home

2009-08-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

It's past bedtime, and I hear "Mommy! Something broke!"

Huh? Why are you even up?

"What broke?"

"The lightbulb."

Oh crud. It's the curly lightbulb in the lamp.

"Girls -- go downstairs. I'll clean it up." Now their room is a hazardous waste area. Awesome.

So.... I had heard about the controversy about mercury being in the CFL bulbs. I have a house full of these bulbs. Haven't had to replace one yet. I heard that when they burned out, you can bring them to Ikea. Groovy.

I never thought about what would happen if one broke. On the carpet. Grrrr...

Here's what you are SUPPOSED to do:
1. Open the window and leave the room for 15 minutes.
2. Turn off the AC.
3. Use something hard to pick up the fragments -- put them in a glass jar or sealed plastic bag.
4. Use duct tape to pick up tiny fragments.
5. If you need to vacuum after all this, dispose of the bag in a sealed plastic bag.

This will prevent poisoning yourself & family with mercury. Also, keep it out of the groundwater (at least until the plastic bag degrades, which we know will take a LONG time...)

Did I do all these things? Uh.... Let's just say I found the handy EPA site after clean-up had taken place. But I knew not to vacuum first thing and I used something hard to pick up the fragments. Luckily the whole bulb did not shatter -- just the top part. At least, I hope that's lucky.

Really I don't know.

In the meantime, I'm looking for an adequate plastic bag I can seal because I don't have very many (any?) of those.

Good times.

Family Road Trip

2009-08-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

This summer my family and I went on a LOOOONG road trip. We drove from Texas to Maine, camping and staying with friends along the way. Before we left, I searched and searched for people doing similar things, but couldn't seem to find quite the right combination of details.

Here is what we did:

My husband and I have 3 kids, ages 3, 5, and 7. We drove in a minivan (Toyota Sienna). We did not go to any theme parks :) We did go to state parks and national parks. We left June 24th and were back by the end of July. We actually cut the trip a little short at the end because we wanted to get home sooner. Here are the stops we made along the way:

Austin - Lake Ouachita State Park -- 2 nights camping
Natchez Trace State Park -- one night camping (extremely humid!!)
Smokey Mountains National Park -- 3 nights camping
Staunton, VA -- stayed in hotel because it was pouring rain. Visited Frontier Museum, which was amazing!
Highland Falls, NY -- stayed with friend -- 3 nights -- she is a saint
Portland Maine -- stayed with family -- 2 nights
Acadia National Park -- 5 nights -- lots of rain! Maine was amazing and disappointing at the same time. My memories of Maine in the summer involved lots of beach activities, but it was 60 degrees and raining. The grass was green -- everything was green! Texas is suffering a severe drought, so the green-ness was a real treat. But 60 degrees? In July??
Portland Maine -- 4 nights with family.

I really liked the way TO Maine better than the way back. This may be because it was the more planned portion of the trip. It also involved more camping and fewer large cities. We had intended to go to Cape Cod National Seashore, but I was sick and it was pouring rain, so we stayed in Portland a couple extra days.

Plymouth, MA -- one night in Governor Bradford hotel. This hotel is in front of the ocean, and you can easily walk to Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. It was nice to be close to the sights. The kids enjoyed seeing the Mayflower, but it's a pretty quick trip, especially with little ones who are too shy to ask the performers questions.

New Jersey -- some horrible hotel close to the ferry landing for the Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty cruise. The hotel was truly awful, but the breakfast was amazing. We had great weather. Ellis Island is super interesting. By the time we got to the statue of liberty, we were all tired of walking. Ellis Island has a great cafe with reasonable prices.

Washington, DC -- we stayed 2 nights in the burbs with a friend and 2 nights in the burbs in a hotel. We took the metro one day and drove into the city two days. On the last day, we couldn't face the traffic/walking/more museums, and we decided to hit the road. Even though we had read lots of advice about taking the metro, we did not save ANY money or time by taking it. We had to buy 4 tickets and pay for parking -- in all our metro experience was about 35 dollars and not really a time-saver. We drove into the zoo one day -- I think parking was 10 dollars. The other day we drove and parked at a meter at the national mall. We had to move the car at one point, but we only spent 4 dollars on parking.

Atlanta, GA -- we stayed 2 nights in the burbs with family. We didn't see Atlanta at all, but my husbands' family is very nice :)

**car incident along the way** -- we lost the tread off of one of the tires. The only place willing to repair it at 6:30 on Saturday evening was Costco. I brought the kids in, bought some slices of pizza, and the car was ready by the time we were done with Dinner. Love 'em.

Dallas, TX -- after a long night drive, we got into Dallas at 6 am. The kids were well-rested. C and I had not slept AT ALL. But it was worth it to get all the way back to Texas without hours of whining. 2 nights with family.

Austin, TX -- home sweet home. But I'm pretty sure the grass is dead.

Looking back on our trip, here is what I would change:
*fewer hotels. We didn't stay in many, but they were not very enjoyable.
*more camping. This was our favorite part.
*more time in Arkansas. It's SO beautiful. We would probably need to leave earlier in the summer to maximize our camping in the south.
*I would skip Plymouth.
* I would not bother with the metro. (sorry... I know that doesn't sound very green)
*I would not try a day trip to NYC. I was very stressed out about losing one of the kids. My daughter has not recovered from missing the train on the way back -- she seems to have some sort of stress issue about missing trains/buses/rides to the store...... about being left.
*I would not order a lobster roll -- I discovered I don't really like them.
*I would not buy a special cooler that purports to keep ice frozen for 5 days. What a bunch of bologna!
*I would bring a heavier jacket or sweatshirt.
*I would count the sleeping bags before we left -- my husband left his behind :(
*I wouldn't bring a gas lantern. It was a pain. The globe broke. We barely used it. I really like to look at the stars when I'm camping, so as soon as dinner was over, we generally turned whatever light we were using off. The lantern was a waste of precious space.

What was awesome:
*camping in Arkansas.
*bears in the Smokies. My husband saw 5!
*drinking local beer everywhere we went.
*ice cream in Maine
*staying with family and my kids meeting/playing with cousins
*my aunt's cooking
*the farmer's market in Highland Falls, NY
*fireworks at West Point
*the frontier culture museum in Staunton, VA. It's probably worth double what they charge -- we spent the WHOLE day there. (But please don't up the price!)
*not bringing a DVD player for the kids. We listened to books on tape or I read books out loud. We heard a lot of books as a family & it was great :)
*our Garner GPS (aka Map Girl) -- she was a BIG help. I was kind of anti-GPS before this trip, preferring to use my amazing map skills, but Map Girl got us out of trouble a few times and was able to lead us to grocery stores and parks along the way. She also saved us from a MASSIVE Cape Cod traffic jam. She still needed a skilled Assistant Navigator (me) because sometimes she suggested strange routes.

What was fine
*driving -- surprisingly enough, there were only a couple of desperate days. We were able to have a lot of flexibility, bring our camping stuff and stop at grocery stores to get fresh supplies.

Living in the Past?

2009-05-16T06:14:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan of books about time travel. Maybe that explains the following:

I don't have a cell phone.

I have been thinking about buying a cell phone for months, but I can't seem to convince myself that it's necessary. Then I was reading (again!) about cell phone usage in the US. Apparently the adoption rate is 85%. Holy canoli.

That's higher than the number of people who have computers at home.

My husband has a cell phone, but I very rarely use it. Only to make a long distance call after 7. Otherwise, I dial a nifty code so that I can get cheap long distance. It's kind of fun because then my number comes up as unavailable -- only the brave answer. But really, what's so brave about answering the phone? I answer the phone all the time and never know who's calling. Why? Because I don't have caller ID either. Gasp!

But come to think of it.... not that many people call. My friends tend to e-mail me. So I've started answering my e-mail regularly. But I'd rather talk on the phone. Sometimes I lose the phone in the house and can't answer it in time. People rarely leave messages. Maybe they think I have caller ID.

I'm beginning to think that people don't call me that much because I don't have a cell phone. Or maybe they don't want to hear my kids screaming in the background. (Probably).

Here's the problem:
1. I'm really cheap.
2. My husband's cell phone doesn't get any reception inside the house. We have to keep it on the windowsill so that it will ring and then go outside to talk.
3. I'm afraid that if I get a cell phone people will start to be late and stand me up. With the current situation, if I say "Meet me at Magnolia's at 9", people show up. The only other option would be to leave me alone outside the restaurant.

At the same time, I kind of want a cell phone. Kind of. I'd like to be able to call for information on the road when I'm not with my husband (granted, that doesn't happen that much). I hear that when you have a cell phone you don't get as many trash phone calls. Despite allegedly being on the do not call list, we seem to get TONS of telemarketers and surveyors calling. I also HATE that since I am the only listed member of my family in town, I get calls from all kinds of random people (including creditors) when anything happens to anybody with my last name (whether or not they are related to me). Curses.

Here's the things I don't consider problems:
1. Emergencies -- I have had multiple flat tires and car problems. Somebody always has stopped to help me.
2. Kids -- the school has my work number. The secretary will come and get me out of class if there's a problem. I can't have a cell phone on while I'm teaching anyway.
3. Caller ID -- I don't really care about this. If I don't want to talk, I don't answer the phone.

So.... what to do? Any advice? I know you have a cell phone. Convince me.

Bottled Water is Bad

2009-04-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

Need some ammo to convince the hold-outs on the bottled water issue? Here's some nice sources:

The Sierra Club -- this page has some great facts and links to a brochure that you could print out (double sided of course) and post at the office or other offending location.

Lighter Footstep gives a nice succinct 5 reasons not to drink bottled water.

You can encourage your friends to take the Take Back the Tap Pledge.

Finally, lead by example. When it is your turn to be snack mom, don't bring bottled water. Bring a pitcher and some cups. When you have a party, do the same. Use a thermos or canteen to carry water. Drink from the water fountain.

This is a very frustrating issue for me because since I moved I feel like I have stepped back in time and everybody around me seems to be gleefully slurping from bottles and THROWING THEM IN THE TRASH (we have curbside recycling... what gives?) I try to lead by example and I don't want to be some sort of environmental pain in the neck, but I am strongly tempted to do an Earth Day Daisy Scout meeting dedicated to vanquishing the bottled water. My main fear is that I would offend the many well-meaning moms who brought bottled water for snack. What to do?

Trends in my Neighborhood

2009-04-08T19:41:00.001-07:00

Here's what I see:

More people are using cloth bags at the grocery store. Not everybody, but a lot more people. I also notice that people often say that they forgot their bags if they are getting plastic. At least they have bags somewhere. Often it takes a while to get into the habit.

People love bottled water. I just don't get it. It's so wasteful, but it is the #1 most popular drink at my kids' elementary school. They have water fountains! It's killing me. The "green team" supposedly worked to green the school carnival, but they sold bottled water at the carnival.

Apparently, bottled water is a big source of income at these school events. Why can't they just sell paper cups of water or sell lemonade or.... ACH! just about anything else?!

On the topic of bottled water, will I come across as a nut if I tell my daughter that she is not allowed to drink bottled water? For example, she goes to a kickball game -- everybody's having bottled water, but I send her with a bottle of tap water from home. That's normal, right? And an after school meeting? All the other girl scouts drinking their bottled water and I'll just tell her to say, "no thanks. I have my own bottle."

It's funny how this seemed so bizarre, but when I write it out it seems bizarre even to worry about it. I'm suffering from bottled water peer pressure. Crazy.

More Scouting News

2009-03-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

This week the Daisy scouts in my troop are going to earn the "Use Resources Wisely" petal. We are following up on a hike that we took at a nature preserve. Our guide told us that every 4 months Austin sends enough trash to the landfill to fill the Erwin Center (for you non-Austinites, the Erwin Center is where we have big concerts. It's really big.)

So, we are going to have a kindergarten level discussion of the 3 R's, with an emphasis on "Reduce". I am bringing a big box of trash (I wonder how this will go over. Hopefully okay. The trash is clean.) that we are going to look at and sort. We will also talk about what other choices we could make to reduce the amount of trash. I will make every effort to be cool and not preachy :)

I've been looking around for cool things to tell the girls. About 50% of carpet is made of recycled plastic. Interesting. So is fleece and the filling of sleeping bags. But the tip I'm happiest about is from No Impact Man -- wrap your sandwiches in the liner of cereal boxes. Why did I never think of that?

Green Daisy Scout Snack

2009-01-31T21:13:00.000-08:00

This year I became a girl scout. It's really exciting for me because my mother didn't let me become a girl scout when I was little. She said it was a fascist organization. I think it's a nice way for my daughter to make friends.

Somehow, I ended up being the troop leader. I did not intend to be the troop leader when I went to the sign-up meeting, but now I am, and that's pretty fun too.

At each meeting, the girls have a snack. Usually, we have a designated snack mom. I have discovered that 10 5-year-olds don't pay any attention to the meeting until they have had a snack. Also that chocolate cupcakes are more popular than vanilla cupcakes.

Some of the moms bring little bottles of water. The girls usually like the bottles, but I have noticed that they don't actually DRINK much of the water. One day, we had a field trip and I brought along Capri-Sun juices. I think that they're slightly better than juice boxes because at least the packaging is smaller, and neither one is recyclable. I'm not sure if that's right. Again, however, the girls had a few sips and that was it. A giant waste.

So I bought a bunch of little Dixie cups -- you know -- the size that you have in the bathroom to rinse your mouth after you brush your teeth (although I always just filled my hand with water, but I digress). I told the girls that they could fill a cup with water from the water fountain if they were thirsty. That seems to work fine. (And they can have their water with them at the table instead of being in a big line at the fountain).

I guess it would be better to have permanent cups for each girl, but I'm just not there yet. Maybe when we do the "Use Resources Responsibly" petal.

So, what do you think? Is a dixie cup better than a Capri sun wrapper? Is Capri Sun (the juice, not the juice "drink") better than a juice box (not recyclable in our area)? I assume that a plastic water bottle is the worst, even if recycled. Especially if it doesn't even serve its purpose -- it seems a big waste for 3 or 4 sips of water.

Jokes and Random Thoughts

2009-01-31T20:53:00.000-08:00

I love cheesy jokes. I teach Spanish. The best cheesy joke is a cheesy joke in Spanish (I guess it's really cursi, not cheesy, but anyway...)

Que hace un pez?
Nada.

Primer acto: Una banana que no tiene plata.
Segundo acto: Una banana que no tiene plata.
Tercer acto: Una banana que no tiene plata.
Nombre de la obra: PlataNO

Cual es la mitad de uno?
El ombligo.

Now for some cheesy jokes in English:
What do you call a fish with no eye?
Fsh.

What did the fish say when it hit a wall?
Dam.

Finally, I can't help but wonder:
Why did all of Cinderella's stuff disappear and turn into pumpkins, mice, etc. at the stroke of midnight except for her shoes? It seems there is a hole in this story.

Lately, I haven't been very grad and I haven't been as green as I would like. But I do what I can. Today, that's jokes.

Wii -- have I gone over to the dark side?

2009-01-27T18:33:00.001-08:00

When I was growing up, we had Atari. My brother and I played it pretty obsessively, but we would sometimes tell our friends that it was broken because we eventually got sick of playing it all the time and wanted to hang out with our friends.

For Christmas, my husband bought me a Wii. I asked for it. No, really, I actually did ask for it. It wasn't for the kids. It wasn't for him. It's my Wii. That's actually pretty important to me because it means the kids have to ask me for permission to play it :)

So, what's going on? I'm not a video game sort of person anymore. I spend most of my time hanging out with my kids or reading.

Well, I have to confess. I like the Wii. It's fun. I can play it with the kids or with my husband or by myself. When people come over, we can bowl. It's fun. You get a little exercise. Sometime you don't want to think too much. Sometimes you just want to do something goofy. So, if it's to okay to go bowling, I figure it's okay to play Wii. Because the reality is... I like to bowl, but never go. It's too complicated with the kids. I don't like it enough to pay a babysitter.

So, the Wii gives us a fun family and friend activity when it's too hard to go out. And when it's freezing cold outside and drizzling, it is a way for the kids to burn off some energy.

Have I turned to the dark side? Mmmm... I don't think so.

What to do when your kids keep eating

2009-01-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

I'm back. I'm rested. (Relatively). I've been researching sea lions and squid -- interesting animals, both of them. But the mission of this short back-to-blogging blog is....

What do you do when your kids (or boyfriend, or yourself, or whatever) keep eating?
My kids (7, 5 and 3) are eating me out of house and home. We finish dinner and the first words out of their mouths are "Can I eat something?"

I have decided that they need to be a little more self-sufficient because I am sick of fixing snacks. So, they can fix themselves:
yogurt
cereal with milk
fruit
egg cup (microwave an egg for a minute with a little salt -- they love it)
popcorn
PB & J
trail mix
raisins or other dry fruit

None of the above require much cooking. It's all relatively healthy. I have succumbed to the siren song of the frozen Gogurt. It's strange that I buy the big container of organic yogurt, but for snacking and lunches, a frozen tube of yogurt is so much more appealing. I tell myself that at least it's better than the mini container of yogurt, which seems to have more plastic. But that plastic is at least recyclable..... ARGH.

Anyway, sometimes my kids are going for the 8th snack in a row (it seems) and I am cringing at the price of the food that they are inhaling. 50 cent apple (at least) -- gone! 60 cent pear -- adios! Sometimes I try to get them to eat bananas and cereal because at least those things are less expensive.

I do have to admit that my kids are pretty good about not wasting food -- and have even reported shocking instances of other kids wasting food, as in "X threw half an apple away -- he/she's a waster!"

Too Tired to Cook

2008-10-03T07:28:00.000-07:00

Another in my line of overwork blogs... (I decided to at least blog about my woes, because I miss blogging even though I've been tired and haven't been blogging. But I miss it, so here I go!)

We all know how important it is to plan what to eat, to eat at home as much as possible... for health, financial, and environmental reasons.

I'm a big fan of the book Your Money or Your Life. In that book, you are asked to calculate how much working costs you. Yep -- that's right -- how much money do you lose by going to work. For example, do you need different clothes? Do you spend money commuting? Do you buy/do things to relieve the stress you have from working? Do you buy convenience food because you're too tired to cook?

Of course we have to make adjustments in our lifestyles so that we can work. That can be a good thing. I'd probably not be a better person if I spent all day in my pajamas, comfy though that might be.

What's killing me this semester is food. And that's a shame, because I really like to cook.
Here's how it works:

I teach a night class two nights a week. The night in between, I spend a lot of time preparing my classes, and don't get to chill out. The night following my second night class, I spend a lot of time lying on the couch because I'm exhausted. Friday night I usually do some quick cooking or we go out because I've had a hard week and feel that I deserve it. Saturday and Sunday I cook.

Uh oh... what's my family eating? Um... I'm not totally sure. There's a lot of pasta and leftovers and fruit. It's not that bad, really, but there's not much left for lunch.

So, for lunch I've been eating cinnamon rolls and take-out. What the heck!? That's a recipe for disaster. Oh, and sometimes I eat nothing.

All work and no play makes grad green a grumpy girl.

What do you think your work expenses are? Do you eat differently on the days that you work? Better? Worse? How do you handle dinner?

TGITh ... I am overworked

2008-10-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

Whenever we make a big money decision in my house, my husband and I think about our priorities. When we were going to buy a house, we decided to wait because our priorities are 1) a good education for our children, 2)being able to walk to things, and 3) having enough money to do fun stuff. We decided not to get stuck in a house that was in not quite the area that we wanted because 1) the schools weren't as good as we wanted, 2) the stores, etc. weren't as close as we wanted and 3) we were going to get locked into a high fixed expense that was not quite comfortable for us economically.

This semester I failed to consider my priorities and now I have 3 jobs. I thought that the extra money would be great to save for a bigger down payment on a house, but now that I am actually doing the jobs, I don't think it's worth it.

What are my priorities?
Money for a downpayment? Or everything else?

Because that's what's happened. With 3 jobs in 3 different schools, I teach a total of 7 different levels. On some days of the week I teach from 8 am to 10 pm, with only a few hours to come home and do the homework/dinner routine with my family. The other day, I had to leave for work with my daughter sobbing in the driveway. That is NOT what I wanted.

So, I've been thinking about this a lot. I gave up one of my jobs, effective mid-October. Just thinking about that makes me feel better. I've realized that this semester I've been living for the weekend. On Sunday night, I start to get really stressed out and sort of nauseous and that feeling doesn't go away until Thursday afternoon (my teaching load is relatively light on Fridays).

Clearly, I need to work less. The extra money just isn't worth it. My priority is to have a relaxed lifestyle, to be able to spend enjoyable time with my family, and to actually see my friends. If you can't do those things, you're probably working too much... just like me.

A bathtub full of water...

2008-09-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I blogged about filling the bathtub with water in preparation for a hurricane. I talked with a friend, and she agreed that she used to do the same thing and we both wondered why nobody seemed to do that anymore.

I figure it's germaphobia. If people are going around drinking bottled water when there's no problem, they're not going to want to drink water out of the bathtub. If they are constantly using antibacterial soap, bathtub water is a big stretch. I checked the web.

NOAA's hurricane flyer advises filling the bathtub. BUT it says that you should not drink the water. Ready.gov also advises filling the tub (for sanitary purposes). So... what about drinking water? Okay, I admit that drinking water from the bathtub is not particularly appealing. I would definitely be sure to clean the tub first. But several sites advise filling large containers of water, presumably for drinking. NOAA recommends a gallon of water per day.

With all the government emphasis lately on disaster planning, it doesn't seem like many people are prepared for disaster. Why are people in non-devestated areas running out of food after just a few days? How long could you eat out of your pantry? (Granted... without being able to cook because the electricity and maybe the gas are out).

Austin is hosting almost 2000 evacuees from the hurricane, so we hear about the problems all the time. Many people have lost their homes and have nothing to go back to. But I don't understand some of the problems in the western areas of Houston. Losing electricity shouldn't cause total chaos. We shouldn't have to pass out MREs after just a few days (Again, I am NOT talking about the people who lost their homes.)

Before the hurricane, my dad went to the store and bought some bread and peanut butter and gatorade to tide him over. He came to stay with me during the storm, but he went back the day after to check on the house and was without electricity for 3 days. He ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches, but he had food.

This whole situation shows that people are not taking disaster planning seriously. Everybody should have some sort of stockpile of food. Maybe not enough for a year (I'm not that hardcore), but at least enough for a week. And some way to cook it, if it needs cooking. We should think about water, too. If a hurricane is coming, fill large containers with water. Fill the bathtub. It could take FEMA a while to arrive. It could be useful to know how to purify water or how to build a fire, or to own a camp stove. We shouldn't have to be out in the streets begging for stuff.

Finally, another note on the water....
My husband is from Central America. The area in which his family lives is notorious for water shortages. When I say shortage, I mean that at certain times of the year, they can be without running water for a week or more. When the water comes down the pipe, people fill up large (clean) trashcans, water bottles, and a giant sink that is used for washing. With careful use, this will last until the water comes again. When I visited his family, I used a bowl dipped in a trash can full of water to "shower". Babies were bathed in small bathtubs filled from the giant sink. Dishes are washed carefully -- rinse them all first, soap them, rinse again. There is no water wasted. His family is a normal family. They do not live in poverty, but they have learned how to deal with an almost constant "disaster". We could learn from some of these techniques.

Cashews -- What the Heck are They?

2008-09-13T07:47:00.001-07:00

My husband tells me that when he was growing up he used to love to eat cashew fruit.

Huh.... I had never heard of a cashew fruit before.

Yep, he tells me. Each cashew fruit has one nut.

Wow... that explains why they're so expensive. I imagine a mountain of fruits thrown aside to make one can of cashews.

So what IS a cashew?

The cashew comes from a tree that is native to Brazil. The nut is not actually a nut, but a seed that dangles from the bottom of the cashew fruit, known as the cashew apple (or marañon). The fruit is sweet, but very delicate. It is commonly used to flavor aguas frescas (a refreshing fruit drink). In Brazil, the cashew fruit juice (caju) is very popular.

The nut (sorry, seed) is contained inside a hard double shell, which contains a resin with an irritant related to poison ivy. That would explain why my husband grew up eating the fruit more than the seed. He tells me that the shells are roasted so that the nuts will come out of the outer shell and so that the resin can be removed.

According to several sources, the nuts are cracked manually. Then they are graded, according to how white they are and as to how broken they are. After grading, they are roasted.

So... what brought all this on? I noticed that they started selling caju juice (from the cashew fruit!) at HEB. It's also a great example of how many of us don't know where our food comes from. It's amazing how labor-intensive cashew harvesting is, yet I can go to the store and buy a can of hundreds (!) of cashews for around 4.00.

picture from gigglemoose.com

My Evacuee & Hurricane preparation

2008-09-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

My Evacuee:
My dad decided to leave Houston and stay with us. I'm glad. Reports are that the winds were up to 100 mph in Houston and that over 4 million people lost power. I'd much rather have my dad hanging out here with us, feeding the kids lollipops, than hanging out in a soggy house with no power. In the Rita evacuation, the trip from Houston to Austin took some people 12 hours (it should take 3). My dad was able to leave at 6 pm last night and got here by 9 pm. Austin is hosting over 20,000 evacuees in various shelters, and although it may not be luxurious, everything seems to be going smoothly and traffic has been fine.

So, phew...... But my older brother is in the storm's path and hunkering down as we speak (I love this media use of the word "hunker"... it cracks me up. Yes, we say it in Texas, but it's not an everyday expression). Hope everything is okay. Luckily, it seems that the storm has weakened.

Hurricane preparation:
When I was little (living in Houston), the general procedure if a big storm was coming was to fill your tub with water. I can't remember if we actually did this, but we knew that was what you should do in case of a water outage.

Now, the general procedure is to go to the store and buy dozens and dozens of plastic bottles of water. And people go to the store, find empty shelves, and freak out.

If a big storm is coming, why can't we fill some bottles with water for immediate use and fill the tub just in case? (Of course, this would only apply if you are "hunkering down" -- if you need to evacuate, you can't bring the tub with you).

Things that are Awesome

2008-09-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've made many changes over the past year or so. Some are hard, some are easy, some are easy to stick with, and others.... well.... others I have flaked out on. Here's what's awesome:

maple syrup. 'nuff said. I realized that my brother (Gato Negro) has the real deal at his house. I asked him when he started buying it. He told me "when I started buying my own syrup". Take that gradgreen!
sugar. Why was I using Splenda? I was obviously brainwashed by Weight Watchers.
weight loss without lots of artificial foods
giving stuff to Goodwill -- I now have a permanent Goodwill box in the closet.
crayons (As you know, I have 3 little kids. Crayons are my favorite art supply. Why do markers even exist? Oh... to destroy my house... right...)
homemade pizza -- I got a bread machine and it has been worth it for the pizza dough alone
line drying clothes (this is C's department. Thank you!)
Murphy's oil soap for cleaning wood furniture -- bye bye Pledge.
cloth napkins
hankies
Craig's List
cloth diapers (I've been a total failure with nighttime cloth diapers, but I am convinced that cloth diapers made my little one potty train at two years old ... a whole year earlier than my other two children)
less/no TV -- we still use the TV to watch movies, but now we don't have any cable, which keeps us nice and commercial free :)
ceiling fans -- since we have moved to a place with fans in every room, we are able to keep the AC set at a higher temperature and be very comfy.
Wrap-n-mat to wrap sandwiches in for sack lunch. Very cute, creates its own placemat, and quite a conversation starter.

What hasn't worked out so well?

CSA -- It just didn't seem worth it and the food was rotting.
worm composting -- they freaked me out a little, and we killed them. Sorry wormies!
going car free/ car light -- very very hard with three little kids. The basic problem here is that I can't spend long periods of time on public transportation because I have to get home and pick up/ take care of my children.

Convenience

2008-09-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

With all the madness of back-to-school, and starting work full-force again, convenience has really been on my mind. For example:

Walking/biking to school
Why do so many parents drive their kids to school? My kids walk or bike with their dad every morning. The school is very close to our house and it would be ridiculous to drive. But there are other parents who live nearby who drop their kids off with a car. Why? I guess because it seems more convenient.

Maybe they are on the way to work and school is on the way. The problem here is that it's not just a quick drop-off. The traffic around the school is INSANE.

My kids don't walk by themselves because they're little, but older elementary school kids should be able to walk a quarter mile by themselves (I think) unless they have to cross a busy road. What I have noticed is that despite the insane traffic (slow, but lots of distracted drivers), there are only crossing guards right at the school. Our road is a little ways from the school, and although many kids walk up our road, there is no crossing guard.

One solution might be to walk the kids to the point at which it would be safe for them to walk on their own (and where they meet the surge of other kids and start to ignore their parents anyway).

But then I thought about my youngest child......

I drop her off at day care every morning and I don't have time to walk her to the school (which is within walking distance) and walk back home to get my scooter. So, I have ended up driving her to day care 2 days out of the week and then driving to work from there. And I have found that I like listening to NPR in the car on the way to work. It's the only time in the whole week that I get to hear the news without interruption.

So, here I am.... I can either:

Walk her to daycare, drop her off, walk back, scoot to work (total of about 45 minutes, no NPR, but good exercise) OR

Drive her to daycare and continue on to work (total of about 25 minutes with NPR and killing the environment).

Grrr....

I don't think I'm the only one facing these kinds of decisions.

What's interesting is that she HATES riding in the car and shrieks like a banshee, so in the afternoon I come home, leave the scooter or car, and then walk or ride my bike to pick her up.

Maybe when it's not in the 90s I'll be in a better position to ride my bike to work, but right now I'm a little daunted by the 4 or 5 mile hilly ride.... (Any thoughts on electric bikes to assist on the hills and not get to work a sweaty blob?)

More on the Water Heater

2008-09-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

I'm super tired, so I'm going to keep it short.

Last night I wanted a really hot bath. I'm the only hot water lover in the family, so we've been keeping the water heater at a pretty low temperature. So, just for the bath, I turned it up. About 30 minutes later, I had a very hot bath. It was great. Then, I turned the water heater down.

I realized that there is a "vacation" setting on our water heater. Now I'm wondering if maybe we should keep it on vacation and just turn it up about an hour before bath time. What do you think?

Maple Syrup

2008-09-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

A while ago I bought my first ever bottle of real maple syrup. It just ran out. So..... I went and bought another bottle. I am officially converted. Real maple syrup is awesome and the stuff I grew up on freaks me out. I can't believe I didn't realize that I was slurping down maple flavored high fructose corn syrup.

Real maple syrup, on the other hand, comes from trees. There are no other ingredients. Pretty cool. I bought 8 oz. for about 5.50. It came in a glass bottle. The same company sells 16 oz. in a cute plastic bottle for around 15.00. Now, I'm not a math genius (actually, I'm pretty good at math, but still...not a genius) but clearly the 8 oz. in glass is a better deal. Tricky evil marketers.

The syrup is grade A. I wondered what that meant, so I looked it up here. Apparently there are no differences in quality of syrup. It is graded accorded to the "robustness" of the maple flavor, as follows:
Grade A light amber: delicate maple flavor
Grade A medium amber: mild maple flavor
Grade A dark ": robust maple flav.
Grade B: strong robust maple flavor
Commercial: very strong maple flavor

Organic maple syrup costs a lot more. Since maple syrup is already pretty pricey for me, I wondered, "what is organic syrup?" Isn't all syrup organic? According to the people at tropical traditions, there IS a difference. There are 3 main points:
Organic maple forests are not sprayed with pesticides.
No formaldehyde is used in tree tapping.
The number of taps per tree is limited, ensuring the health of the forests.

It can take up to 40 years for a tree to get big enough to tap. I wonder if the forests have been organic that whole time....

You get what you pay for

2008-09-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

Usually. Except for the case of used clothes, in which case you get pre-worn-in clothing at a great price.

But, if you're going to buy new, it's worthwhile to buy something that is well-made. I am a big fan of places that have good return policies. For example, the first year that my son needed a backpack, I bought a cheapie at Walmart (back when I went there from time to time...). It blew out before the year was over. I have vowed never to buy a non-LLBean backpack again.

Why is LL Bean so awesome?
They have a lifetime guarantee. So, if 20 years down the line, the zipper on your backpack stops working, LL Bean will replace it, without giving you any grief. You don't even have to save the receipt. I love it.

If you buy hiking boots and 7 years later, the soles dry out and fall off (hypothetically), send 'em back, and get new boots.

They have great customer service and great quality.

If you decide to sell your used clothes, they also have great resale value on e-bay. (Google LL Bean raincoat and see what happens)

Land's End and REI have similar policies, and given that all 3 of these companies sell outerwear and outdoor gear that could get rough use, it's a good idea that IF you're going to buy something new, you might as well buy ONE thing new instead of four or five over the years.

A friend also informed me that Sears has a program called Kidvantage, in which they will replace worn-out kids' clothes. Good to know.

Killing Trees

2008-08-28T19:02:00.001-07:00

I'm a teacher. This semester, I'm teaching all kinds of classes. I try to minimize my use of paper. I always print on both sides of the paper; I use scratch paper to print out my lesson plans and things that students won't see, or I fold it and make it into a little coloring book for my kids.

But teaching is paper intensive. Another option is to use overheads. But then I wonder -- is it better to make an overhead, that will save about 100 pages of paper over its lifetime, or is the overhead worse? I guess paper can be reused and composted or recycled, and the plastic in the overhead will never go away, so I'm guessing that a copy is better.

I generally make my students share copies, if possible. For example, if I want them to read a poem in pairs, I give one copy per pair. Then, I often make them turn it back in and I save it for the next semester.

Many schools are now using ELMO, or another document camera. With this technology, the teacher can project a paper or picture (or anything, really) onto a screen without making an overhead. I imagine that it uses a lot of energy.

What do you think?
Overhead or copies for the class?
Elmo or copies?
Overhead or Elmo?
Slates for each child?

Back to School

2008-08-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

I'm a little brain dead with all the back to school stuff -- 3 kids starting various levels of school/preschool this week, and I'm starting back too, after an all-too-short vacation. Remind me not to teach double summer school again. (I'm serious. Remind me!)

This year we've decided to pack the kids' lunches. There are a variety of reasons.

1. I think that the school lunch is kind of pricey, considering what it is. (Today's lunch was hot dog with chili; tomorrow, a chicken burger.) It's not really food that I want to encourage my kids to eat, and it costs $2.10 per kid, per day -- so a grand total of $21/week for my two school-age kids.

2. I have been to lunch, and the kids throw away a lot of food. I think that's wrong. I would rather send them with food that I know they'll eat.

3. Everything in the school lunch is disposable, including the tray.

4. The kids use a spork to eat their school lunch. I'm not sure why the district can't just give the kids a fork or a spoon. Using a spork seems to just encourage silverware problems -- I think kids need to learn how to use forks. Of course, the stupid spork is packaged in plastic with a napkin. So much waste.

But, there are some common problems with sending lunch from home.
1. Keeping things the right temperature.
2. Having the right container.
3. Many people still send lots of disposable stuff.
4. Keeping cost down -- you might end up spending MORE on a lunch from home.

As far as temperature is concerned, I bought a nifty thermal container from Land's End (2 for around $15), and it is great for sending pasta or macaroni and cheese or whatever your kid likes. I also have some plastic containers with screw on lids to send stuff like sliced fruit, applesauce, etc. Currently, my kids are going with water bottles that I fill with ice in the morning (and a little water), so they have cool water during the day. But, the pressure has been on to buy the chocolate milk at school. I am fine with chocolate milk, but I think school milk is pretty gross and I don't want to pay .65 for it (high, right?) I'd rather buy organic chocolate milk and freeze 1/2 of it in some sort of a container and then fill the other 1/2 with milk so it will still be cool at lunch time. I really don't want to buy a juice box because it just creates too much trash.

With all these containers, the lunch box can get pretty full (and my kids have big lunch boxes). We have a couple of wrap-a-mats which we can wrap around pretzels, dried fruit, or whatever. They are basically pieces of cloth lined with plastic that velcro together. You can check them out at reusablebags.com. We have been pretty happy with ours, and they get frequent (positive) comments, but the price has gone WAY up recently (more than double), so I'm not sure that I would buy them again.

Pigs are Flying

2008-08-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this before I left, but here it is now:

Rick Perry (governor of Texas) petitioned the EPA for a waiver on the amount of ethanol in gasoline (9 billion gallons are required in 2009).

His argument was that it was hard on feed lots (boo on them!) because it was pushing up the price of corn. Well, it's not just hard on feed lots, but on anything else that involves corn, including tortillas. The high price of corn has driven up the price of tortillas in Mexico, a staple food, especially among the poor, who get 40% of their protein from tortillas.

Turning corn into ethanol is also bad for the environment, as it only produces 1.3 times as much energy as is used to grow the corn, turn it into ethanol, and transport it (which must be done by truck). In the meantime, huge amounts of chemicals are used to produce the corn (pesticides, fertilizers) and instead of growing a food crop, we are devoting more and more land to growing... fuel. That's messed up.

The tide has been turning against ethanol for a while (note some of my sources, which are a year old). It just doesn't make sense, and isn't really a viable solution to our dependence on fossil fuel. We can't possibly grow enough corn to not have to rely on imported oil, and making ethanol from corn is not helping the environment. So.... doesn't help the environment, doesn't help the economy (here or in the rest of the world), doesn't solve the oil problem. Why require it?

So, when Rick Perry asked for a waiver from the EPA, I actually agreed with him. And then the EPA turned him down.

Clearly, pigs are flying. I'm siding with Rick Perry and against the EPA.

OMG.

Importing Recycling

2008-08-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

I know that you've been wondering where I've been. I've been a slacker. No... not, really. I moved, and then I went on a family trip to Mexico. But now... I'm back! (yeah!)

I've done a lot of traveling in Latin America, but since I had kids.... not so much. When I went to Isla Mujeres (a little island close to Cancun) this last week, I realized that I hadn't been to Mexico in at least six years. That's pretty crazy, considering that I love to travel and live in Texas.

I'm not sure what the water situation is in Isla, but I have been sick enough when traveling that I was really paranoid about drinking the water. So, for a week, we drank bottled water (boo... hiss!) I could not find it in anything but plastic bottles. Luckily, our hotel had a water cooler that we used to fill up the bottles, but between the water and some juices, I ended up with quite a plastic bottle collection. I couldn't find anywhere to recycle them (or anything, for that matter). So, I ended up importing the empties (most of them, I'm not a saint... I did throw some away) for recycling in the US.

In my previous travels, it was much easier to get a glass bottle (especially for juice and sodas), and the glass bottles were always returnable. Almost every glass bottle that our group used (many many beer bottles, as we were testing all the Mexican beers for an important research project) was non-returnable. Why? Why would they make a specifically non-returnable bottle?
I'm pretty used to this, because in Texas we don't have deposit bottles, but I thought that it was common in Latin America. When I have traveled around, you were frequently not allowed to take the bottle with you if you got a drink, or it was poured into a plastic bag so you could take it "to go". (I know... plastic bag = evil, but returnable bottle = good).

What's going on? Is this common throughout Mexico? Is it because of US influence? Are returnable bottles going out of style? Or is it just because I was in a tourist area?

Save Money on Gas

2008-08-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Pretty much every time I ride my scooter, someone makes a comment about how much I must be saving on gas. True. We've figured out that it gets between 75-80 mpg. Pretty awesome. Today I had to fill up the tank (around 4 dollars) and it was very fun to be right next to a Suburban at the pump. :)

But this post is about natural gas. In our new place, the water heater runs on natural gas. We also have gas cooking. At our old place, we had on-site maintenance (yeah!) but no access to the water heater. Here, any maintenance requires a written request, which for some reason has been very difficult to turn in.... I just can't seem to make myself get three kids into the car to bring a piece of paper over to the management company. I could fax it, but I don't want to unpack the fax. I could probably e-mail it.... anyway. I haven't done it.

What does this have to do with saving gas? Our water heater is broken, and we can't have hot water until it's fixed. Thus, we're saving a bunch of money :)

It's actually not too bad. We only really use hot water in the shower (and then, it's only 3 out of the 5 of us), but it's so stinking hot that it's not a TOTAL necessity.

I looked at the water heater, and it's rated very low on efficiency. It's exciting to see that I can turn the temperature down (I wasn't allowed to in the old place). According to the Department of Energy, each 10 degree temperature reduction saves 3-5% in energy. When we do get it fixed, I plan to buy it an insulating blanket. (This should save another 5-9%, although installation is apparently more complicated on gas water heaters.) We are also considering turning off the water heater for most of the day, but I would like to do calculations to see how much gas this really saves. Does anybody know if turning off the water heater for 20 hours or so saves gas? Or does all the difference get used up in heating the tank of cold water? How long does it take to warm up?

This site says that it's worthwhile to turn the water heater off when leaving town. It also says you can use a timer for an electric water heater. How about gas? If you go out to the garage and manually turn it on and off, will that work?

Blinded by the Light -- How bright does the bathroom need to be?

2008-08-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

We just moved to a bigger place with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. We checked out the energy bill from the previous tenants, and it was a shocking 200 dollars (!). Immediately, C went into action to make sure that we do not continue that trend.

Now, this sounds kind of dumb to me because changing light bulbs just seems so obvious and non-exciting. But, if you look at lists of green things to do, changing to CFL bulbs is always at or near the top. At our old place, we had no choice because the lights were those long tube lights found in schools, but all of our lamps were CFL powered. Now, we had many more lights to deal with, all using regular light bulbs.

C went around changing as many light bulbs as he could (we had a small stockpile of CFLs that we had bought on sale), but when he ran out of CFLs, he just started taking light bulbs out. The light in the girl's room has four lightbulbs -- they were 4 regular light bulbs -- now we have one CFL.
Savings?
We replaced 4 60-watt bulbs with one bulb that uses 13 watts = 227 watt savings.

Each bathroom had 3 regular bulbs -- now they each have 1 CFL. Honestly, 3 was pretty blinding. I don't know if I want to see that well in the bathroom.
Savings?
6 60-watt bulbs (360) for 2 13-watt bulbs (26) = 334 watt savings.

In one bedroom and 2 bathrooms, that's a 561 watt savings, and we only used 3 bulbs!

The City of Austin offers coupons for packages of CFL (I think it's good at Home Depot). I wasn't going to Home Depot, so I bought a package of 10 at Costco for 13.99. Well worth it.

Some people complain about the light that CFLs give off. It doesn't bother me, but if you don't car for it, you might try the following:

Buy a CFL that gives off white light (these are different from the regular CFLs)
Consider how many light bulbs you really need. Do you need 3 bulbs over the bathroom mirror? Maybe it won't be so annoying if there's only one.
Use a nice lampshade.

The worms are dead

2008-08-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last week either packing, moving, cleaning, or unpacking. I'm exhausted. But I love my new place!

On the last day in the old place, I came home to a horrible smell. Horrible. Totally shocking and disgusting. Blech. I knew that it was coming from the worms. So, I opened them up. It was bad. Even stinkier. Slimy. Gross. Gross. Gross.

Worm maintenance has been mostly C's department, but I could tell they were too wet. I drained off quite a bit of "tea", added a bunch of dry fiber, and waited for C to come home to further assess the situation.

They were almost all dead.

We ended up throwing all the stinking mass of worms and slime and uneaten food into the dumpster. It is some consolation that what we threw away is still way less than what we put into the worm factory. The worms did a great job for months converting our food waste into worm movement and more worms.

We let them down.

What have I learned?
You have to pay attention to the directions (duh). Put dry fiber (paper, etc.) AND food.
Worms can die.
If they die, you will need to move.

So, will I try again? I'm not sure. There are a lot of deer where we live and the neighbors put salad scraps out in the yard for the deer.

Btw, the deer are SOOOO cute. There are baby deer and mommy deer and daddy deer with antlers. We see them every night. (Can you tell my kids love the deer?)

Classroom Manners

2008-07-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is not a post about being green. It's just a post about being polite.

I teach at a major university and at a community college. In both places, most of my students are wonderful. I really do love teaching. But, in both places, the classroom atmosphere suffers because of some basic impoliteness on the part of a few students. I like to think that maybe they don't know how to behave. Here's some things that students have done:

forget to turn the cell phone off. Phone rings in class.
A couple of students have answered the phone in class!
Texting. Huge problem.
Doing crossword puzzles in between exercises.
Insisting on an explanation in the middle of a lesson (the explanation is coming -- my lesson is building up to it)
Cursing "Oh shit" when I ask a question and they don't know the answer.
Pounding on the desk and saying the F word during an exam/quiz.
Calling out the answers to a listening exercise during a quiz.
lying -- totally ridiculous lies because of missed classes.
Assuming that I will give a make-up exam on my own time, regardless of the fact that the syllabus explicitly states that there are no make-up exams.
Doing homework during class.

What is going on? These things would never have crossed my mind when I was a student. And lest you think that I have a boring class, I don't. I may be a little too nice, but I want to make people feel at ease in class. The vast majority of the students are respectful, participate, and don't cause any problems. But then there are a few..... Grrr....

I have had to get really strict about excuses that I will accept, and I always start the semester with a talk about cell phones, etc... but the cell phone problem in particular just seems to get worse (perhaps because more people have cell phones). I think the problem is that I don't want to call out adults for misbehavior. It feels ridiculous. Some of my students are older than me. I shouldn't have to tell them not to curse in class.

Any thoughts?

Water and Wine (or Grape Juice!)

2008-07-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Water
Why?

Why does Whole Foods sell bottled water? Why is it prominently displayed?

Oh yeah... money.

But here's what I really don't get. The Whole Foods downtown has water for FREE -- and ice -- and paper cups. If you're eating there, and you didn't bring your own drink, or buy a drink in a glass bottle, you don't need to pay for water. But if you look around, lots of people have paid for water.

I think that drinking bottled water is a habit. You buy lunch, you want a drink. Everybody buys something -- a Coke, a juice, whatever.... you buy a water. It's easy to temporarily forget about the environmental impact of the water. That's when it's good to be frugal as well as green. The frugal person is thinking about two things -- the environment, and the fact that he/she doesn't want to pay for something that should be free = more likely to not buy the water.

If you live in Austin and go to WF and get thirsty -- there's free water. It's not prominently displayed, but it's totally free. (And icy!)

Green Church

The Catholic church has added new social sins, including hurting the environment. At the time, I wondered if the church would be changing its ways. A friend reports that at her local parish, they switched to ceramic cups for coffee. Yeah!

Yesterday I attended a Protestant service that included communion. At a Catholic mass, each person sips wine from a communal chalice. At the service I attended yesterday, tiny plastic (non-recyclable!) cups with tiny sips of grape juice were passed out. It seemed like a lot of waste.

Is this typical for Protestant services? I've been to other services, and plastic cups were always involved, but that may just be coincidence. Are there Protestant churches that serve grape juice in some other way? I guess that it is to reduce transmission of germs. When I go to church, I don't receive the wine part of communion if I'm sick, because of the communal chalice.

P.S. Please don't take this as some sort of Protestant vs. Catholic debate. I'm just noticing a difference that I had not noticed before.

Apocalyptic TV

2008-07-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

I've been compulsively watching Jericho, a TV series that my dad lent to me. Even on the tiny TV, it's pretty good. As much as I hate TV, when I come back from work, it's nice to just blob out... and then I end up thinking "wow... TV.... genius invention." Not regular programming, so much, because I hate the commercials. But DVD series are really addictive.

Jericho depicts a small town in Kansas after a series of nuclear bombs wipes out most of the major cities in the US. I like the characters, and I pretty much like the story line, but it makes you think... The citizens of Jericho are forced to live, with no prior warning, with no power (after a while), a very limited supply of gas (limited to what they had at the time the bombs went off, so far), and a limited food supply. Pretty soon they come to rely almost completely on food from the farms surrounding the city. (This does present a logical problem because of the fallout, but it is explained in the case of the corn, which was in the husks, making it safe (hmmmm...)).

As far-fetched as parts of the plot-line seem, it does make me think about our preparedness for disaster. Many consider peak oil to be a coming disaster. Are you preparing? Are you prepared? Have you even thought about it?

Watching this show, I see that their being in a rural area is a help because 1) there are fewer people to feed and 2) they have livestock and farmland to provide food.

When I think about my own life, I see that living in a city is a great and sustainable choice as long as everything is functioning smoothly. If, for some reason, supplies were to stop coming in, there would be a big problem. I used to live in Houston and the stores would totally empty out of bottled water if a hurricane was anywhere near the Gulf of Mexico. And that was in Houston! We lived an hour from the coast.

It also makes me think about what I would be willing to do. For example, there is a scene in the show in which a man stumbles into town dying of radiation poisoning. One man refuses to help him without protective clothing. Two others pick him up and carry him to the hospital. Unless the person was a member of my own family, I think that I'd at least put on some gloves or something. Then, I started feeling selfish for thinking that... How far are you willing to go to help someone that you don't know? (The scene took place in a pharmacy, so I'm pretty sure there were some gloves on the shelf. It seems pretty dumb not to have at least put SOMETHING on). Will you do more for a family member than you would for a stranger?

Gradual Change

2008-07-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I look around the blogosphere, it seems like everyone is so hard-core green. I try, but it can be really hard with 3 kids. Then, I look around the rest of society, and see that I'm actually doing okay. It's important to realize that becoming green is not an overnight process. After all, Green as a Thistle made a change a day for a year. Burbanmom is also all about gradual change.

How gradual can change be? Pretty darn gradual. Let's look at my diaper situation:
I have 3 children. I attempted cloth diapers with my firstborn, but was overwhelmed and didn't know what I was doing and gave up. I didn't try cloth diapers again until my youngest child was one. So.... three years of disposable diapers. Then, I decided that I would give cloth diapers a try. Here's what made the difference: it wasn't an all or nothing deal. C and I decided that we would try to use cloth diapers as much as possible, but we were open to using disposables when traveling, at night, etc... We ended up using cloth diapers about 90% of the time because we were able to make the change gradually, without too much stress, over the course of a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, we never really found a satisfactory night-time solution. After many many tries, I gave up, stopped washing all the sheets and blankets everyday, and opted for one disposable diaper a night instead. Not perfect, but it worked for us.

What helped with the diaper situation too was that it was a pretty low-risk investment. Cloth diapers have great resale value. I bought most of mine used and then resold them for almost the same price that I paid. Craig's List is a great way to buy cloth diapers. Some people are freaked out by buying used diapers. I don't really understand why many of these same people would use a diaper service -- it's the same thing. And in the end, they're all washed and clean.

Gradual change can also be a great way to win over other family members. For example, say you decide that you want to start eating less meat as a family. We never ate a lot of meat, but I would make spaghetti sauce with ground beef. My husband grew up eating lots of meat, so I was afraid he wouldn't be into veggie crumbles. So, I made the sauce the same way, but substituted in about 1/3 veggie crumbles. Nobody complained. I upped it to about 1/2. Nobody complained. Then, I decided to actually consult my husband, and he told me that he really liked the veggie crumbles and didn't need the meat. Maybe you'll never give up the meat, but you might be able to buy a little less grass-fed meat for the same price you were spending on corn-fed... you can make up the difference with veggie crumbles, or you can just stick with using a little less. It's worth a try.

Sometimes you might make a change and decide that it's not working out. But I think that the biggest step is being willing to try in the first place.

What are some gradual changes you could make?

handkerchiefs -- buy one. Give it a try. It's nice. If you think it might be gross and germy, maybe don't use it when you have a cold. After a while, you might change your mind.
cloth diapers -- go for two or three a day at first. Give cloth wipes a try while you're at it.
used toys -- next time you buy a toy, buy used. I bet the kids don't care, which will make it more likely to happen in the future. Better yet, explain to the kids why you're doing it.
library -- instead of buying the next book you want, at least check to see if it's at the library.
non-stick pans -- hide all your non-stick pans. Buy a cast-iron skillet. Give it a try for a week. (Season it first!) If you hate it, you can dig out your pans again.
buying freeze -- if you're a serious shopper, stop buying stuff for a week. If you need something, try to borrow it instead of buying it. It's only a week! It might not be as hard as you think it is.

Pile of Stuff

2008-07-17T20:11:00.001-07:00

I was looking through my labels on the blog and noticed that most of them have only one posting that goes with them. They are probably feeling lonely, so I thought I'd add on to one of the lonely ones. It's funny that now they're in a big list, because I was just labeling haphazardly and now I feel like there should be some method to my madness....

So, we're moving soon, and I've started packing. We still have a couple of weeks left here, so I've been boxing up non-essentials. What I've realized is that we have a LOT of non-essentials. For example, one day, my daughter and I boxed up 3 boxes of toys, and the other 2 kids didn't even notice. It has also made their room easier to clean. Today, I boxed up two boxes of serving plates. What the heck?! I left several out to send to Goodwill, but still.... it's a lot of giant bowls, platter, etc. I do use them from time to time, but never all at once, and I had no idea I had accumulated so many.

Now, I have no problem with having stuff, but I just think that if we're going to pay for a big enough apartment/house to store it, and appropriate containers, and have to pick it up, and dust it (I hear some people do this)... that it should be useful.

I was guilty of giving pretty terrible gifts to kids before I was a parent, and even now, if the kid is over 6, I don't really know what to give them, but I know what the under 6 crowd needs:

puzzles
art supplies - I prefer scissors, glue, crayons... not the twist-up crayons because they're a HUGE waste. The kids like markers but I don't really because they always dry up. But, if they get markers, I always get washable markers.
playdoh -- it would be even better to make a kid playdoh and put it in a reusable container. The yellow plastic containers the playdoh comes in are not recyclable (or at least I have not found a marking on them)
playdoh toys -- can never have enough
Barbies and Barbie clothes. My daughters love Barbie. But here's a secret. They don't care if she comes in a box. In fact, if she comes in a bag from the Thrift store, it's even better because she is easier to get out and play with. At Savers or other thrift stores you can often find bags of Barbie clothes. Heaven!
dress-up clothes -- I never had a dress-up box growing up, but now I see how awesome it is. This is a very popular activity when kids come over. Costumes are super cheap at Goodwill.
books -- kids who are of the losing teeth age will love One Morning in Maine. Who Has a Bellybutton and I'm a Big Brother/Sister are great books for kids who will soon have younger siblings. Find a book that you loved as a child, and dedicate it to your favorite child.
bicycles, scooters, tricycles -- beware the Rock n Ride, as it falls apart. (I have seen MANY broken specimens around my apartment complex)
baby doll -- the ideal would be a cloth doll with a couple of changes of clothes and a bag or bed to put him/her in.
LEGOS and/or K'nex. These are totally awesome. Easy to find used.
Little People -- but stick with classic structures, like the house, farm, zoo. The amusement park is VERY annoying.
Power Rangers or other action figures -- ours all come from garage sales. These are very expensive new.
Toy dinosaurs

Besides the art supplies and puzzles, I don't think any of these things need to be bought new. The kids certainly don't care, and if a gift is given with love, I don't think that the parents care either. Nonetheless, I have trouble giving used gifts to acquaintances (ex. a birthday party from a kid in my son's class... don't know the parents). In these cases, I usually give art supplies.

From packing so far I can see that kids tend to accumulate a lot of stuff. We don't even buy them toys, and they still have tons of stuff. What doesn't last/isn't worth it?

train tracks -- I think this is a Christmas fantasy. You want the image of the train going around the track on Christmas morning. The reality is a derailed train, lost/drained batteries, and tracks EVERYWHERE.
stickers -- made by the Devil.
Beauty or make-up kits for really little girls -- end up everywhere.
Mr. Potato Head -- I want to love him, but I hate him. His little arms and nose, etc. are all over the house.
Lite Brite -- die, lite brite, die! Not for the under 6 crowd unless you have a very patient mother.
Color Wonder stuff by Crayola -- the idea is great -- the markers/paints only work on the special paper. BUT, you have to have a parent willing to buy more special paper.
Candy Land if the child is under 5 (maybe even 6)-- I think the game says 3 and up. Right!
Most card games -- far easier to just use a deck of cards and teach the child how to play War (after kindergarten, so they know numbers)
mobile -- it's so cute, but it takes a while before the baby can look at it because their head is all flopped to the side, and pretty soon you have to take it down because the baby is able to pull on it. Not something I'd buy new. But, again, very cute.
Any tape/Cd/whatever that purports to teach your child another language. It's a lovely idea, but your child needs interaction to learn a second language. Ralph's World is a great children's CD, and your kid can learn to count in Roman Numerals.
glitter -- Grrr...

Car Free Week

2008-07-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Wow... we have been car-free for a week. Granted, this was forced upon us. Still, it's nice to know that we can pretty much get around without a car. There have been some problems, however.

Timing is a bit of a problem. For me to get to work, I need to either ride the scooter or take the bus/bike. Either way, it's between 30-45 minutes. Even in a car, it takes about 30 minutes because of traffic. If I ride the scooter, I get to work stressed out, extremely hot, and gritty. The bus is better, but timing is a bit of an issue. Also, it takes C some time to get home from work. About 15 minutes, and considering traffic, it might actually take him longer to drive than to ride his bike home. The problem is that for my sanity, I need to leave home before he gets home. This week we finally fixed up some nice babysitting which gives us a comfortable margin of error. Is it worth the money? Definitely. I may not be saving any money by not using the car, but I needed a little bit of time before work and C needed a little time after work, so that we weren't always flying to/from home.

Groceries. I'm finding this is a big problem. I just REFUSE to buy all my groceries at Expensive Mart. I could take all the kids to the HEB in the bus (at least a 1/2 mile walk each way plus the bus ride, or 2 buses... painful), but I just can't. I'm not that strong. I'd rather eat pasta every day.

Our refrigerator is looking pretty bare. We're out of fruit. We're out of vegetables. The only reason we have milk is that we bought it at Expensive Mart. There's just not that much to eat anymore. Pasta with jarred sauce, sprinkled with cheese. A different shape of pasta.... some eggs.

What do you think? Is it even possible to take all the kids to the store? My plan is to go to the store as soon as we get the car back.

Bus/Bike to Work -- I did it!

2008-07-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

I just got back from work and I feel totally triumphant -- I bus/biked to work and back home. This is a pretty big deal for me because last week I rode the scooter, but because of the scary traffic, I feared for my life. It also took me about 30-35 minutes each way. Blah.

Today, it took about 45 minutes each way. I rode about 1/2 mile on the way there (between bus stops) and about 3 miles on the way back. So, about 10 minutes more than by scooter. The nice thing, however, was that I was able to spend about 20-25 minutes of that time grading. Productive time. So nice, and so desperately needed now that I am home with the kids all day and teaching at night.

Something I am trying to figure out... how do I go to the grocery store to get the massive amounts of food that we need... with the kids? It just seems SOOO painful without the car.

Austin update: There is a new bike pathway -- the Lance Armstrong Bikeway. It is really nice. It is open from Lamar at Cesar Chavez all the way to Austin High. It is a nice way to stay out of the traffic. It feels so civilized and is faster than riding on the trail. It's also great at night, because you don't have to worry about traffic not seeing you and you don't have to worry about obstacles in the road.

I do have a problem with this bikeway, though, in that it runs parallel to a bike trail. I think there's a lot of other things they could have spent the money on to make cycling nicer in Austin. When it is complete, however, it will connect all the way to the east side of town, which is sorely needed.

Additional update: If you are interested in bike commuting and have a job downtown, Lance Armstrong's new bike shop Mellow Johnny's has showers and a coffee shop. It's right by the farmer's market. It's worth checking out. (I have only looked in the window -- I haven't checked out the facilities.)

5 Car Free Days

2008-07-13T08:33:00.001-07:00

My car broke down on Tuesday. C went to "rescue" it and bring it to the shop. We have been car-less for 5 days. And it has been nice. It's been no problem.

How did I get to work?
I rode my scooter. If I had someone to watch the little one, I would have ridden the bus or bike/bussed because I'm a little scared to ride my scooter to work because of the traffic. I'm trying to address that problem for next week.

How did C get to work?
He rode his bike.

How did we get the kids to camp? (The two big ones had camp this week)
J rode his bike and N rode the trail-a-bike behind C's bike.

How did I take E to the park?
On the bike with the trailer. It was fun :)

How did we get groceries?
We only had to pick up a few things. We did it on the bike to the Expensive Mart down the street.

C and I had a date night. What did we do?
My MIL took the bus to our house to watch the kids. We rode our bikes to the springs and then downtown to have a nice dinner. We rode about 6 miles total, which helped cancel out the cake I had for dessert :)

We dropped my MIL off at work at 5 am. How did that work?
Normally, we would have driven her. Instead, she rode on the back of the scooter with my husband. They both wore helmets. It was so cute.

Speaking of, my MIL is the best. She's been car-free her WHOLE LIFE. That's right. She doesn't drive. She doesn't own a car. She doesn't even have a driver's license. Sometimes this is a big pain, but usually it is not a problem. Which is kind of surprising considering that she does not really live within easy walking distance of many things. She can walk to the bank and.... that's about it. If she wants to go to the grocery store, she asks someone to take her. If she goes in early to work, (5 am! No bus runs that early) she either calls a cab or gets a ride with a co-worker. For just about everything else, she takes the bus.

My MIL is in her late 50s, so if she can do it, other people can do it. She's in great shape, probably from all the walking to and from the bus stop. She owns her own house on a very moderate income, and I'm pretty sure that if she had the expense of owning and maintaining a car, affording a house would not be a possibility. Plus, she avoids a lot of danger. About 6 or 7 years ago, her kids (C included) tried to teach her to drive. This resulted in 2 accidents: crashing through the garage door and totaling the washer and dryer, and side-swiping an 18 wheeler. I love her, but we're all probably better off with her not driving.

An added advantage to not driving? If you live in Austin (and this probably is true for other places too) you can have the Transportation Fee on your electric bill removed if you don't own a car. Pretty cool.

Be prepared!

2008-07-08T20:37:00.001-07:00

Maybe because I was never a scout, I seem to be having trouble learning this lesson: Be Prepared.

I drove the little one to the Children's Museum today. Why? Because it was hot and the trailer was hooked up to a wimpy bike. It's actually a pleasant bike ride, so I really should have ridden the bike. Alternatively, I could have taken the bus, but that (of course) would have required some planning.

So what happened? I drove E to the museum, and the car broke down. I had to push it into a safe place and C had to rescue it after work. What a pain. And I ended up taking the bus home anyway (which was very pleasant).

So now the car's broken, and it will be a few days (at least) until it's fixed. Time to experiment with being car-free.

I scooted to work this evening. Blech! The traffic is awful, and it's much worse sitting in the humidity and heat, breathing in exhaust than sitting fresh in my car listening to NPR. It threatened rain, but did not rain after all, although I was prepared with a big rain coat and a change of clothes. I'd feel much safer taking the bus. I checked out the schedule and it might be doable.

Bike Commuting

2008-07-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

C is so happy. He is finally a bike commuter. He can ride his bike to work with no problem and gets VIP parking at the bike rack. There are just a few kinks that need to be worked out:

weather -- it poured rain today. Luckily, that was on the way home.
flats -- C seems to be prone to flats. Last time he got a flat, he had to walk home 3 miles in the middle of the night. Not so good. He had everything he needed to change the flat except for a pump.
sweat -- C said he was really sweaty when he first got to work. However, he had to race to work because he was helping me drop off the kids at camp. A more relaxed pace = less sweat.

In other biking news, we are trying to reduce our car use as much as we can. The two oldest kids are going to a camp that is close to our house. They were thrilled with the idea of riding to camp. J (6 yo) rode his bike and I brought N (5 yo) on the trail-a-bike. This only worked, though, because E was being watched by her grandmother. Babysitting and the frequent need for quick turnarounds seem to foil my desires to ride my bike.

For example, this morning, I had to be at work at 8:30. Camp drop-off was at 8. I might be able to ride to work in 30 minutes, but it would really be pushing it. If E had been at home, I would have had to find a sitter at 7:40 in the morning (don't currently have one that early). I ended up riding the scooter to work.

But wait! I said I rode the trail-a-bike. Then I rode the scooter? What's going on? Ah... the complication. So that we could bring the kids on bike, I rode the bike to their camp, then rode the scooter to work. A total pain. In the afternoon, C picked up the kids on bike. (This was actually even more complicated, but every time I write out the whole routine, it sounds too confusing. Let's just leave it at that... C rode his bike, the kids rode their bike, I rode my bike/scooted, and then drove in the afternoon. BLAH!)

There is a trade-off. More biking means more babysitting. I don't use much babysitting right now, so a little extra here and there really makes a difference. I hate to ask someone who's doing me a favor to wake up super early.

Once again, it seems that it all comes down to planning:

Plan extra time into your morning and you can ride to work.
Plan to have the necessary supplies to fix a flat.
Plan to watch the weather -- it might rain while you're riding.
Plan to have extra clothes at work, just in case!
Really think about it when you sign kids up for activities that have drop-off times close to the time that you have to leave or return from work.

Independence from Box Cake!

2008-07-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July!

I discovered an amazing recipe for chocolate cake. Although it's not my #1 chocolate cake, it's pretty darn good, and you can't beat it for speed. With my 5 year old assistant, I was able to put this cake in the oven 7 minutes after getting out the recipe. It's crazy fast. It's also a beautiful thing because you don't need to use a bowl (and it's vegan).

Crazy Fast Chocolate Cake

Grease a 9x13 pan. Add the following dry ingredients, spreading them around:
3 c. flour
2 c. sugar (or a little less)
6 T. cocoa
1 teas. salt
2 teas. baking soda

Make 3 wells in the dry ingredients. (I don't know if this is necessary, but that's what the directions say). Add the following wet ingredients (one in each well):
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 T. red wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar, and it was fine)
2 teas. vanilla

Over the top of everything, pour:
2 c. water

Stir it up until just mixed. Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes. Frost with frosting that's not from a can!

Can you go car-free or car-light?

2008-07-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading How to Live Well Without Owning a Car by Chris Balish. It's a very inspiring book. I really like its realism -- the author does not want you to give up ever driving a car or riding in one, just owning one. He provides a nice worksheet to help you figure out how much you spend owning a car. I figured that our car expenses are a little over $250 a month. My friend, who just paid off her car, figured hers at over $300. We were both a little shocked.

Balish's main point seems to be that you can save a lot of money and have an even better life if you give up your car. You can have a rich social life, date car-free, and get in shape. I like his story of how he accidentally fell into living car-free. He has a chapter devoted to families that have two or three cars, and encourages them to become one-car families.

Now, I have to be realistic. I could give up my car, but my life would become a giant pain in the neck in many cases. I would probably need to rent a car about once a week to visit family or go camping. My car expenses would not be $250 if I really reduced my driving -- according to my calculations, if I only used the car for longer trips with heavy stuff, the cost of renting and the cost of owning would probably be about the same. So, for now, the car stays.

Balish says that if you can get to work without driving, you can probably go car-free. So, it's really important to consider where you work and where you live. If you are going to move, you need to be near your job (ideally) or near a transit stop. In some cases, it may be worthwhile to move closer to work or even to change your job so that you work closer to home.

Once you can get to work, other things can be taken care of without a car in most cases. Balish is a big fan of delivery services. Yes, the delivery van uses gas, but it's a lot more efficient than you driving around town. The delivery van probably has a route. I think this is good for ordering stuff off of the internet, but maybe not as good for something like grocery shopping.

For something like grocery shopping or a big trip to Costco, Balish recommends going with a friend (among other options). I have to admit that this is very appealing. Combine the social and the practical. Of course, you want your friend to live nearby and to already be going to the destination. It doesn't save any energy for your friend to drive across town to take you to the store. You might fear mooching off of your friends, but Balish recommends buying them a thank-you lunch or drink. Seems like a win-win situation.

I have a friend who lived car-free for a while, and she frequently had to get rides to go to social events or to go shopping, and I really don't think that anyone resented it. She was always very good company.

We will be moving pretty soon, and we have taken a lot of trouble to find a place that is close to the things we use on a regular basis (grocery store, library, post office, elementary school, etc.) and with good connections to our jobs. It is also a very pleasant, albeit longer, bike ride to work. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I am really hoping that we will be able to drastically reduce our car use.

P.S. I will be doing the calculations from my June Food Challenge and reporting back soon. My new challenge is not to do any month-long challenges (not of my own, anyway), because I'm pretty bad with follow-through.

P.P.S. Check out Arduous-- she's doing a month-long pseudo-Freegan challenge. I can't wait to see what happens. Go girl!

Wormapalooza -- level 2

2008-06-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

We have added the next level to our worm farm. We weren't really sure when to do it, but it seemed like the first level was getting pretty full of worms, so we decided to spread the love.

A few days later, the worms have traveled into the 2nd layer of the farm. C lifted up the top layer and they were like spaghetti coming out of the holes of the box. Pretty gnarly.

We have had the worm farm for a while now, and I am still pretty pleased with it. It does not smell. At least, not a gross smell. It has a pleasant earth odor, but really only when you open it. The worms do a good job of eating the food scraps we put in. I also chop up receipts, pieces of boxes with food residue that I can't recycle, and school handouts that have been colored on (only the scribbly drawings, not the good ones). I haven't tried orange peels. Any advice on those?

Vacation at Home

2008-06-29T18:00:00.001-07:00

Have you changed your vacation plans because of high gas prices? Are you reluctant to fly because of the emissions? If so, fear not! You can vacation at home!

After a few expensive trips with little kids, we realized that we were flying across the country to do, in many cases, things that we could do at home. For example, we took two kids to Seattle. We walked around the city, went to the zoo on the bus, went to the farmer's market, visited the tower, drank lots of coffee, went to the farmer's market again, went to the park, Children's museum, went for a hike... you get the picture.

Now, I LOVED Seattle. Particularly considering that we went in August, and August in Austin is hell. But little kids don't really appreciate the wonder that is Seattle and maybe we could have saved ourselves a lot of money and some frustration by vacationing closer to home. A lot of it has to do with attitude. When you're on vacation, you're out to have fun and try the cool local stuff. You don't worry about paying bills and cleaning the house. You get to spend time together as a family, relatively free from other distractions. And if you want an ice cream, you get one.

For example, today we spent the day "vacationing" in Austin:
After breakfast at home, the kids and I rode bikes over to play mini-golf. This was an exciting first for my kids. Afterwards, we met C and the little one at the fountain park to run around in the fountain. We had a little snack while we were there, then headed over to the Children's museum. After the museum, we went out to lunch and even bought ice cream for dessert. We raced our bikes home and then collapsed. We'd spent the whole day out. The evening was dedicated to relaxing.

This would actually be a pretty good vacation day. We normally only eat one meal out when we go somewhere, because I don't have the patience or the money to take 3 kids out for all three meals, never mind the endless snacks.

You could be your own tour guide, and make a vacation plan for 2 or 3 days. Heck, you could even hire a housekeeper for a day... it's still less expensive than going to a hotel :)

When I'm on vacation, I like to mix it up. Do a little something cultural, a little something outdoorsy, and something indulgent. For example, each day you could do one thing from each of the following categories:

Cultural

go to latest exhibition at the museum
gallery hopping
symphony
live music of some other kind
go dancing
do some art/craft thing -- paint pottery, for example
Sierra Club meeting
movie

Outdoorsy

go for a hike
go for a bike ride
fly on a zip line
swim in a local swimming hole or springs
go sailing or take a sailing lesson
kayaking, or go out with friend on his/her boat :)
camping (if it's not 100 degrees)
rock climbing

Indulgent

get a massage
lay around and read a novel
get an ice cream
go somewhere amazing for dessert
take a private dance lesson and finally learn to dip
go to the farmer's market and don't worry about the price of berries

There's lots of other activities that are fun too, especially if you have kids:

feed the ducks
zoo
bake cookies
go to the store and trawl for free samples of food (WF is great for this)
climb a tree
putt-putt golf
bowling
summer musical
visit a friend with a new puppy or kittens
tube the river
run under the sprinkler/borrow the neighbor's slip n slide (if you're not in a drought)
garden

Of course, planning a vacation at home doesn't require a lot of study. But sometimes you do need to plan it. I happen to have a lot of vacation time (thanks, grad school!) but I find that if I don't make a plan, I tend to fritter it away.

Some vacation plans can't really be replaced, but if finances are tight, or you're really burnt out and need a weekend vacation, a well-planned vacation at home can be just the trick.

Do you have any other tips? Please share! (Can you tell I canceled a big vacation this summer?)

Mac and Cheese

2008-06-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I was vegging out watching Alton Brown do a whole episode on how to make macaroni and cheese. I didn't write down the recipe, and I'm certainly not going to buy the expensive cheese he used, but I did learn how to make a mean mac and cheese.

I'm home with the little one today, and we wanted a quick lunch. Sliced fruit and mac and cheese. I grew up on Kraft, but it seems to be getting more and more expensive (around .80 a box.... seems extreme, considering what it is). I bought 3 boxes of the store brand on sale -- 3 for a dollar. Let me just say... BLECH!! (In case you're wondering, the store brand is from HEB. Their Hill Country Fare macaroni and cheese is punishment food).

Not wanting to toss the box or, God forbid, punish someone even less well-off than me, I decided to doctor up the Mac and cheese. Use the mac. Toss the gross "cheese sauce mix". Enter Alton with a simple bechamel sauce.

Usually this is the part of cooking shows where I start to laugh. Right... a "simple bechamel sauce". Has a French name -- can't be simple. Ah, but it is. And delicious.

Start with some butter and a little bit of flour. Melt the butter and stir in the flour, making a roux ( I think this is the correct spelling.)

Add some milk, stirring in between little pours. It will thicken as you stir. If it gets too thin, just stop adding milk, or sprinkle a LITTLE flour in. (Not too much, or it will get clumpy).

Add your favorite cheese, grated, or sliced thinly.

Alton and I like to put in some pepper and a little nutmeg. The nutmeg really makes the dish.

Pour this scrumdidilyicious cheese sauce over some macaroni. If you're feeling fancy, you can sprinkle additional cheese on top and pop it under the broiler for a minute or so. I don't usually (ever) feel fancy. This mac and cheese is delish on its own. The other beautiful thing about it is that I almost always have all the ingredients.

Bechamel sauce is one of those classic sauces that works for a lot of recipes. Want alfredo? Put in parmesan instead of cheddar. Use cream instead of milk if you want it to be creamier.

image from inmagine.com

Wear it Out!

2008-06-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

In our society, we rarely wear things out anymore. When something has a problem, we tend to throw it away and get a new one. Or we upgrade. My parents got me a television during my first year of college and it's been my tv ever since. It was fine. It wasn't too big. It wasn't too small. It was made before there were DVDs, so I had to run the cable for the DVD player through the VCR. No need to upgrade. Maybe there was a resolution difference... I'm not sure. I don't really care about fine resolution or high definition or whatever....

A couple of years ago, my daughter smashed in the power button. To turn the TV on, we had to stick our finger inside the little hole and press.... something. It worked fine. I got really used to it. A few months ago, the TV started shorting out. We could hit it on the side and it would work again. My 2 yo daughter got pretty good at this (a little Fonz... remember how he would hit the jukebox on Happy Days?) Finally, it stopped working. We actually wore the TV out.

I wasn't too sad about this. We don't really watch that much TV and I've noticed that it makes my kids grumpy. They fight about TV and they seem to get in a bad mood when they watch. Yep... even when they watch movies. I also noticed that when the semester's out, I tend to veg out in front of the TV, even though I think it's pretty evil. So, when the TV died, we decided to just let it die. A couple days later, the kids stopped asking about it.

Since the TV died, several people offered us spare TVs they had laying around. We finally took someone up on the offer, and got a small Sharp TV. It's the exact same model that I had before, but even smaller. I am going to put it on a little cart in the closet. It's nice not to have to watch everything on the computer, but I don't want a TV-centric life.

Pretty soon, with the HD thing, my TV will only work for movies anyways, so we might as well get used to it.

If you have kids, do you have a TV policy? Do you think that it makes them act differently when they watch a certain amount of TV? What about when they go over to friends' houses?

So.... what else have I worn out?

My sneakers. I'm so proud. I've now downgraded them to water shoes (for when I go tubing).

Speaking of TV and movies....
I have some burning questions about the Disney Princesses:

Why does Cinderella lose everything at midnight except the glass slippers?
Why do Sleeping Beauty's parents bring her back for a party on her 16th birthday? Didn't the curse say she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel on her birthday? Couldn't they have waited one more day? And shouldn't someone have been watching her more carefully on that day?

My daughter's favorite princess (gag!) is the Little Mermaid. She has a series of books about the princesses with little "lessons" about kindness. I don't understand how the Little Mermaid can be part of this series. She is totally disobedient and decides to ditch EVERYTHING for a guy she's met one time. She leaves her family, her home, and her whole species (genus?). Bad role model.

June Food Challenge Update

2008-06-22T19:15:00.001-07:00

Here's the short version:
I suck at this challenge and can NOT stop going to the grocery store.

I am having trouble keeping track of how much we spend because my husband has to keep running out for stuff (like milk, bread, emergency pizza, etc..) and we haven't always kept the receipt. I plan to do a monthly total using my credit card bill (don't worry! I pay it off every month).

But is it so bad to go to the grocery store ALL the time? Maybe not. The ExpensiveMart is down the street. Sure, it's expensive, but I don't buy very much there. The occasional gallon of milk or something small. WF is on the way home from work. I tend to drop by there frequently. Need some more gluten flour for the bread maker? WF. Need some lettuce? WF. Milk? WF. Yogurt? WF. The beauty of these stops is that for the things I buy, WF does not really cost that much. About the same and sometimes less than ExpensiveMart. And I get free samples as I walk around :) Because the things I don't need to buy are so expensive at WF, impulse purchases are kept to a minimum. $4 box of granola bars? Nope! $4/lb tomatoes? Nope! 9.99/lb olives? Yumm... nope!

Saturday I did a giant shopping trip and drove myself crazy. First, in a desperate attempt to give the farmer's market another shot, I hopped on my bike and rode downtown. I was there about 10 minutes before it opened. There were plenty of people. Some people were filming one of the stands. It seems like that is happening every time I go. I got some peaches ($5 for a small bag), lettuce ($5), squash, a red onion and supplementary tomatoes ($8 -- ouch!), and a bunch of chard ($2). Peaches were the only fruit available, and they were only being sold by one farmer, and they were selling out quickly. I now understand why I hadn't seen peaches at the farmer's market before.

Supposedly, our farmer's market is "award winning". I don't understand that. I am not really "wowed" by the selection, and certainly not by the prices. With the exception of the chard, the prices are the same at WF, and I do not have to get up early in the morning.

After the farmer's market, I stopped at WF for some bulk oil and gluten flour (love the bulk section). Then I came home, got the car, and went to HEB for a gigantic shopping trip with my daughter. We had to buy food for her birthday party, so we spent a LOT of money. I also felt ridiculous spending $4 for organic strawberries (the cheapest they have been all summer, and they were hard. Grrrr...) and then buying Oreos.

Maybe I'm a food hypocrite. Okay. I am. But I can NOT go on torturing myself in the grocery store. I am just going to buy what I can afford, avoid the dirty dozen when possible, eat very little meat, cook beans, make my own bread, and try to stick with actual food, rather than food products, the majority of the time. Saturday night we went on a picnic. We had homemade bread with tuna salad that I made at home, using green peppers from our garden, the freakin' expensive onion and lettuce from the farmer's market, and Hellmann's mayonnaise. I read the label and found out that Hellmann's has HFCS. What can I do? Am I going to make my own? No way. We had plums, chips and Oreos. It was delicious.

Random Stuff -- the Good, the Bad, the Totally Insane

2008-06-17T19:32:00.001-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed the following things:

The good:
Lots of people seem to be using scooters and bicycles. Last year we were the only family I saw riding our bikes to the pool. This year, many people are going on bike (at least 10 bikes today).

Shoe repair: I re-soled a pair of shoes that I got at Goodwill. They are totally awesome. Shoe repair is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, it is WAY expensive in the US. It cost $40 to have my shoes fixed. I have brought broken shoes with me to Latin America to have them repaired because it is a) usually done the same day and b) very reasonably priced. We need more affordable shoe repair.

Tomorrow is reusable bag day in Austin. Celebrate!

The bad:
HFCS is in everything. It's in my raspberry jam. Grrrrr.....
I am getting a complex about jam. My favorite flavors seem to be from fruits that are probably loaded with pesticides. The cheaper brands have HFCS. Pretty soon I'd like to try making my own jam to see how much it costs to make and how long it takes.

The Totally Insane:
Amy's, maker of the veggie frozen dinners, has a line of frozen bowls of oatmeal. Huh?

Whole Foods has its own lunchable in the prepared food section: in a transparent plastic shell shaped like a lunchbox, you get a organic juice box, a sandwich (wrapped in plastic), an applesauce (in plastic), and a bag of animal crackers (can't remember, probably organic).
Have they lost their minds? What is the message here?

Inherited Food

2008-06-15T16:24:00.001-07:00

Three of my neighbors have moved away or left town on extended trips. They have brought over the food left in their refrigerators. Among other things, I have "inherited":

apples
frozen fish
2 lbs. frozen baby shrimp
a jar of green olives
iceberg lettuce
a bag of rolls

It's hard to keep up with everything in your refrigerator, and often we are left having "overbought". I have a very full pantry and my fridge is just getting under control again, having eaten MANY leftovers recently. Then again, there is a fine line, especially if you have kids. You need to have food ready to make a quick meal when the savages get hungry or when there's an unexpected guest (or six). Summer in Texas means that you NEED popsicles. I think that this is not optional -- I am trying to prevent heat stroke. It's 100 degrees outside (literally). This may explain why I have inherited 3 containers of ice cream and a box of popsicles. :)

I like inheriting food. It's nice to get some extra, unexpected things. I don't complain that they're not organic -- after all, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. It's much better than throwing the food in the trash, and it has injected a little variety into our diet. The other day, we made milanesa for the first time (it's a breaded meat cutlet -- these were frozen, and you are supposed to fry them in a little oil).

So, don't be shy. If you can't drink up all your milk before you leave town, give it to your neighbor. He/she will probably be happy to take it, and might have been on the way to the store to get milk anyway.

Why I Buy What I Buy -- Part III -- Convenience Food

2008-06-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I bought a frozen pizza. Actually, it was a "fresh" pizza made by the store, which I doctored up with my own toppings at home, but nonetheless.... bad GradGreen, bad!

It's made me think about the need for convenience food. Some people seem to live off of frozen dinners. Other people make frozen pizzas a part of their week -- every week. I prefer to make my own pizza, but last night was a desperate situation. We were on the way home with 3 very hungry little people after 2 hours at the pool. One of them was crying because she was so hungry. :(

Why didn't I have anything ready at home? Because we already ate it all. I normally have some cooked pasta, some rice, some cooked beans... and all I have to do is heat it up and add something else. But all that was gone. So, I cut up a pear, fed it to the howling masses, and popped in a frozen pizza. I could have made something else, but I was exhausted.

This is all the result of bad planning. Bad timing for the swimming lessons. Could have started pizza dough in the breadmaker before I left, etc. But, at the same time, I don't think a frozen pizza is the end of the world. Actually, there were a couple of pluses:

I like to put my toppings on at home. That way, everybody can have the kind of pizza that they want. We don't have to "pick" topping off, pay for stuff that somebody doesn't want, etc.
Our other exhausted option was to go to a restaurant. We didn't. Thus, we saved money (I estimate about $20), gas, and sanity. 3 hungry kids in a restaurant is not a pretty sight.

Because I did such a bad job of planning swim lessons, I have been serving appetizers this week. (Why did I think going to the pool from 5:30 to 7:30 every day was a good idea?) We come home, everybody changes their clothes, and I cut up some fruit so that the kids can start eating while I whip up dinner. Whipping up dinner has consisted of cooking one thing (broccoli, for example) and heating up leftovers from the fridge. Last night we ran out of leftovers. Carrots weren't really going to fly as a dinner option (at least not solo.)

What is your desperation meal?

Why I Buy What I Buy -- Part II -- Syrup

2008-06-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

So, with the newfound awareness of the June Food Challenge, I have been looking over my grocery receipts and marking things that are not actual foods but food products. My goal is to really think about what I am buying and why I am buying it. I may not always be able to make the best choice because of financial constraints or other reasons, but I might be able to make some healthy and green changes.

Today's post is about syrup. Maple syrup. Actually, not maple syrup, but the product that I grew up believing was maple syrup. You know, Aunt Jemima. Or the Eggo butter flavored microwaveable syrup in the handy squeeze bottle. Or the Hill Country Fare Light Butter Flavored Syrup. Obviously, these products are not really maple syrup. Maple syrup comes from trees ... I've seen it on TV. I even had maple ice cream in Canada. It was served in a log cabin kind of store to remind us of.... trees.

The Hill country Fare brand (a cool 1.29 for the bottle) is a combination of sugar, sucrose, HFCS and various flavorings. You get light syrup by adding some water. Hmmmm.... We all know that HFCS is the devil (or at least a product made by the devil). What's the alternative?

Maple syrup. You know, the kind from trees. Why have I NEVER bought it before? I don't know. I'm not even sure how it will taste. I do know that it's expensive. The least expensive syrup I could find was 4.49 for a bottle that's about 1/2 the size of the HCF bottle I usually buy. It'd better be good. My friend tells me that it's wonderful and that I don't need nearly as much. I hope that's the case.

I think this is a good example of how we buy things out of habit, or because it's what our mothers always bought, or because it's the cheapest... or whatever. Every time we buy something we are voting with our wallets. I have been voting for artificially flavored high fructose corn syrup masquerading as syrup. I'm not even sure what the real thing tastes like. That is a little disturbing.

Green Weight Loss Update
I have kept real sugar in my coffee, but curtailed my pastry schnarfing. I have been weighing in once a week and tracking the food that I eat and I am happy to report that I have lost 8 pounds!! I am thrilled that I have been able to do this so far without resorting to any diet foods or Splenda. Instead, I have been eating lots and lots of vegetables :)

Why I Buy What I Buy -- Part I -- Sunscreen

2008-06-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

I am a heavy consumer of sunscreen. I buy a tube almost every time I go to the grocery store. If it is on sale, I buy several tubes (or bottles, whatever). I am not picky about the brand, but I prefer baby brands because I use them on the kids, and I like high SPF. I know that supposedly anything over 30 (or 35?) doesn't really make a difference, but I like a nice 50.

So I've been kind of shocked to hear that sunscreen can be bad for you. Geez... is ANYTHING good for you? Sunscreen can do a good job of protecting you from the sun, but apparently some of the chemicals that do that job can be carcinogens. So, while you're trying to protect yourself and your family from cancer, you are exposing them to things that cause... cancer.

So, I looked up sunscreen on the Skin Deep database. This is an awesome resource from the friendly people at the Environmental Working Group. They have rated hundreds of sunscreens, based on how well they protect you from the sun (sun hazard) and their health risk (health hazard). Number 1 and 3 on the list were stick lotions by California Baby. Sounds good, so I priced it. At drugstore.com, the .5 oz stick was 12.99. Not so good. Maybe a lotion? The 2.9 oz lotion was (on sale!) 15.49. I'm sorry, but that's totally out of my range.

I couldn't find #2 Badger sunscreen. I decided to go down the list. #8 Mustela is listed at 13.99 for 1.6 ounces. I saw a huge bottle of Blue Lizard at the pool, so I checked it out. It's #17 on the list (the sensitive version) it's 9.19 for 3 oz. The baby version is #23 and the same price (9.19 for 3 oz. Ouch!) Would it pay to buy a gallon like they have at the pool?

1 gallon sunscreen = 128 oz. = 149.00 (with free shipping) = $1.16/oz.
3 oz. sunscreen at 9.19 (let's leave out shipping) = 3.06/oz.
9 oz. at 17.99 (Coolibar.com) = 2.00/oz

Buying a gallon is a HUGE savings.

But is my sunscreen so bad? I'm currently using Banana Boat Sport SPF 50. According to Skin Deep, it has an overall rating of 3 (moderate hazard). It has a 5 (moderate hazard) rating as a health hazard and a 2 (low) for sun hazard. I think it does a good job with the sun. We have been out in the sun a LOT lately, and have little tan to show for it.

Blue Lizard Baby has an overall rating of 1 (low hazard); 3 (health) and 0 (sun). That's pretty good. I also found a list of 10 reasons why Blue Lizard is the best sunscreen.

Sun protection is very important to me and my family. We have already had a close call with skin cancer that scared the #(%@ out of all of us.

I noticed at the pool today that 5 out of 23 kids (yep, I counted... I was trying to be scientific) were wearing swim shirts with UV protection. This seems to be a pretty new phenomenon, but they seemed comfy. The shirts are light so they don't get all soggy when wet, and they are close-fitting so that the kids can swim. Three dads were wearing similar shirts (no moms...) Maybe instead of shelling out 150 for a gallon of sunscreen we could invest in some shirts and use less lotion.

But a gallon? Is that really necessary? Well, we have 5 people in the family. If an adult should use 1 oz. of sunscreen (per application), I figure a child would use about 1/2 that. So, our family needs 3.5 oz. of sunscreen for every trip to the pool. I could use up a 2.9 oz. of California Baby (at 15.49 a pop) in one trip! That's just not going to happen. A gallon of Blue Lizard would last about 40 trips (maybe less, with touch-ups). It's also just one gigantic bottle instead of many smaller bottles and tubes (and we seem to be whipping through about 2 tubes/week now).

I've been noticing that with a lot of my purchases, there is a trade-off. There is a certain price that I am just not willing (or able) to pay. I'm not sure if I'm ready for a gallon of sunscreen, although it seems to make more and more sense the more I think about it. I'll check into the UV clothes and report back.

June Food challenge update

2008-06-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Let's call the first week of the June Food Challenge an observation week. Just like any study, it's important to observe what the natural state of things is before you make any radical changes.

I obviously have a grocery store obsession. I (or C) keep going to the grocery store! Last night, we had to get milk and more peaches. Today, a cantaloupe. I need to quit joking around and either:
a. accept that I go to the store frequently for fresh food, or
b. buy a LOT of fruit at HEB during my weekly shop.

This has been a kind of weird week because I did not go to HEB for a big grocery shop. My pantry was already pretty full of stuff, so I didn't want to make the trek. Then again, if I buy a lot of fresh fruit at the beginning of the week, it might start to go bad. Hmmmmmm

The worms are getting it on!

2008-06-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Actually, that may not be a totally accurate title. The worms obviously have been getting it on. There is a scary amount of worms in my worm factory, so I have ramped up the feeding schedule. They seem happy. My daughter, E, is thrilled. She loves to feed the wormies. I think that she thinks they are pets.

They have started making worm "tea", which is not something you drink, but something that you can put on plants. Awesome.

They still freak me out, but I love them a little more every day. Many people wonder if they stink, but they don't at all. I keep them in the coat closet, so that's a good thing.

Milk and Muffins

2008-06-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

Already back to the store. I had to buy some milk for the little ones. I did hold off on buying muffin mix, though. I'll make my own instead. (My daughter has a summer birthday, so they will celebrate with muffins on the last day of school. So cute.)

I usually make my own baked goods. My mother always made cakes from scratch, and box cakes just taste fake to me. My only exception really is brownies -- maybe that can be an experiment soon -- they just taste so good from the box, that it's hard for me to believe that they'll be as good from scratch. Why do I have this idea about brownies? I don't know. I guess I'm just following what my mom did. Cakes from scratch, brownies from a box.

On one of the blogs I read recently, a tip to reduce grocery spending was to make something every day. I thought this was a great tip. You don't have to make every meal from scratch every day. Combine some leftovers, toss a salad, whatever. But the key is to make something. Yesterday, for example, I made bread (2 loaves, because the first loaf was so delicious that we decided we'd better get the bread machine cranking again). With the bread machine, this doesn't even really feel like making anything. It's more like pouring. Pour in water, flour, honey, oil, salt, yeast. Press button. 3 hours later..... voila!

Making something -- it seems so obvious -- but I like the fact that the tip is not "make everything", but just one thing. On Sunday I made beans. We'll have beans to eat all week (or maybe not, as my husband can eat beans 3 meals a day).

Anyway....I'm a cake snob. I'm a muffin snob too, to tell the truth, but I almost succumbed to total laziness. Almost. I don't understand why people will go to the trouble to buy a cake mix and mix in a few ingredients, but they just can't skip the box and mix in a couple more ingredients. I've timed myself. I can get a cake in the oven in about 8 minutes, from "Hmmm..... I think I'll make a cake" to cake in oven. Being a cake snob can be a little antisocial, especially if your friends know about your snobbery, and especially if you have kids. What do most kid birthdays have? Cupcakes from a box. People know that my favorite food is cake (bad, but SO SO good), so they must notice that I don't eat the box cupcakes. But! My friends are also quick to point out (and share) homemade cake because they know that I will appreciate it.

I shouldn't be such a snob about the cake, perhaps. The same behavior that I don't understand with cake is exactly what I do with brownies. Why can't I get over the box? Must .... get... over ... the box.

I also don't understand frosting in a can. Blech! My mother taught me how to make the best buttercream frosting ever; it's also ridiculously easy. Once you go scratch, you never go back.

Mom's buttercream frosting:
1 stick butter (can use vegan version for vegan frosting)
1/2 bag confectioner's sugar (or so...)
a little milk
a little vanilla
cocoa (for chocolate frosting)

Soften the butter, mix in as much confectioner's sugar as you can. Pour a LITTLE (like a tablespoon) of milk. Taste it. It's probably pretty buttery. Mix in more sugar, adding drops of milk as needed. Put in about a capful of vanilla (1/2 teas?). Mix in cocoa if you're making chocolate frosting.

This makes enough to frost a whole cake, but if it makes too much, it stores in the refrigerator for quite a while.

Let the Challenge Begin!

2008-06-02T20:16:00.001-07:00

Even though it's June 2nd, I'm starting the June Food Challenge today, since it's Monday. What's the point of the challenge?

save money
eat healthier, choosing organic when feasible, and buying less processed food
save time, by planning ahead and limiting number of trips to the grocery store
drive fewer miles (by limiting trips to store)

Step 1: Shop the pantry and fridge. Look at all the things that you already have and plan your meals from that. How many times have you gone shopping only to find that it's hard to cram the food you bought into the fridge because it's already full of food? Using what you have reduces waste and prevents food from rotting away in the back of the fridge or pantry.

Step 2: Make a plan.
I usually plan 5 dinners because we eat lots of leftovers. I also have to think about who will be home for lunch and plan plenty of things for snacks (ie. tons of fruit). I actually have a lot of food on hand, so I made the following plan:
Dinner:
Homemade pizza, salad
Chicken & barley soup, homemade bread
spaghetti, salad, bread
bean & veggie crumble tacos
curry couscous
salmon, rice, vegetables

Lunch:
veggie burger
salad
PB & J
curried lentils

breakfast:
cereal, yogurt with fruit, toast, eggs

snacks:
applesauce, graham crackers & PB, carrots & hummus, smoothie, banana bread, chocolate pudding

Step 3:
Make a list and shop from the list. Buy enough for the whole week, planning only to buy fresh fruit/milk in one other trip.
Here I ran into trouble. My list only had 10 items on it (amazing, huh? We really needed to shop the pantry), so I didn't want to go all the way to HEB. I decided I would check out the farmer's market. My daughter and I went, but all I ended up buying was summer squash (2 dollars a pound). They had blackberries at $4 a pint, but for some reason that seemed too much. I wanted lettuce, broccoli, and carrots, but they weren't there (out of season, I guess). Funny, peaches are IN season, but were not at the farmer's market. So, we went down the street to WF. There, I was able to buy organic carrots, organic lettuce, broccoli and local peaches. They also had local grass-fed ground beef on sale, so even though it wasn't on my list (already breaking the rules!), I bought 3 pounds, wrapped in 3 different packages. We don't often eat meat, but I like to have some on hand and it was a great deal.

Later in the day, my son complained about a lack of "juicy" snacks, so I went on my bike to Expensive Mart and bought apple sauce, bananas, a cucumber (there were none at WF), cherries and blueberries.

Observations so far?

Obviously, I have trouble sticking to a list.
I am a sucker for a good deal if it is something I can freeze. That is why my freezer is full of stuff.
Why did I refuse to buy organic blackberries at the farmer's market for $4 but bought conventional blueberries at Expensive Mart for $3.88? Because of the "sale" sign? I am more of a sucker than I thought. The cherries, also conventional, were also on sale.
There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to my organic buying. I am consistent with lettuce, and that's about it. I looked back at the Environmental Working Guide's rankings of the pesticides in foods and found that blueberries rank #32, so that's not too bad. Broccoli is #35, so choosing conventional doesn't seem like a big deal (44 fruits and veggies were rated). Peaches, however, were #1 -- and although my peaches were local, I don't think they were organic.
Going to 3 stores in one day, even if they are nearby, is not what I want to do.
Salad as I know it is not seasonal in the summer time. I should know this. I have tomatoes in my garden, but the lettuce has bolted and is bitter and disgusting. Cucumbers? I'm not growing them, but they are starting to grow in a neighbor's plot. Carrots -- out of season.

Do you have any "rules" you follow as to when to buy organic? How many stores do you go to?

Food expenses so far this June: 53.43
Miles driven: 5

What Happens at Goodwill?

2008-05-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

Today I dropped off 2 huge bags of stuff at Goodwill. The donation area was totally flooded with stuff -- piles and piles, almost reaching out into the street. The donation attendant said that he was overwhelmed and had never seen anything like it. I think that a lot of it is probably because at the end of May, a lot of students are graduating and moving out. This Goodwill is the closest one to the student housing. Maybe there is more to it, but I think it's pretty much graduation.

So, what happens to the things we donate at Goodwill? When I was younger, I thought that only poor people shopped at Goodwill -- that we were donating so that they would have something to wear, that they got the things for free or maybe at a really reduced price. I was wrong, but I'm still not totally sure how Goodwill works, so I decided to do a little research.

Where does the money go?

The money that Goodwill earns from selling donated stuff is used to fund education/work programs. According to Wikipedia, 84% of revenue is used to fund these programs. Goodwill is based on the philosophy of "a hand up, not a hand out".
According to the Goodwill web site, 1.1 million people benefited from Goodwill programs last year. Goodwill provides job training (from actually learning skills to learning how to write a resume, etc.) and employs people at the stores or in temporary jobs while they are being trained, so that they can begin receiving a regular paycheck. They also provide follow-up support. In addition, they offer on-line classes that can help people learn to use computer programs.

What happens to the stuff?

Things that can not be sold at a regular Goodwill are sent to a Goodwill outlet.
C volunteered a few hours at a Goodwill and found out that things that have been at the store for more than 2 weeks or so (apparently this information is on the tag) are sent to the outlet.
Some outlets sell stuff by the pound (wow). The outlet in Austin sells stuff at a fixed price. They rope off part of the store, trucks arrive and fill huge bins, and then they allow people in to attack the bins. It is a real frenzy (C has gone and says that I would freak out -- I don't like crowds). Many of the reviews on Yelp said that you should wear gloves to prevent exposure to germs/mystery fluids, but that it's fun and the prices are worth it.
Some things are sold at auction. Our Goodwill has an auction every Saturday at 1:00 pm. There is an auction book to bid on something if you can't be there live, but the only way that you'll win is if nobody at the auction wants to pay even $1 more than the last bid -- usually this is unlikely. The auction is really fun and low-stress.
Unsold clothes are "salvaged". They are baled and sold to recyclers, who turn them into carpet fibers, rags, etc. They may be exported to other countries.

Other Facts

Goodwill does accept returns. Leave the tag on and keep the receipt. I have returned a couple of items that I bought for the kids that did not fit. They were really nice about it.
Do not donate broken electronics to Goodwill. They test them. They can't sell broken stuff. Don't waste their time.

All in all, I think that Goodwill is a pretty cool company. The employees at my local store are all very friendly and I am glad to know that the company is giving people a helping hand. I am also happy that Goodwill keeps stuff out of landfills. I am able to find inexpensive clothing for myself and my family and also find an easy place to donate things I no longer need.

Do I always send my stuff to Goodwill? No. If I know someone who can use what I have (for example, toddler pajamas), I give them to that person directly. They'll probably eventually end up at Goodwill anyway :)

Do I donate to other thrift stores? No. But that is only because Goodwill is the closest store to me. I also love the Salvation Army, and they will come to your house and pick up stuff. They are also willing to accept used mattresses.

Right now, one of the dumpsters in my apartment complex is completely SURROUNDED by furniture. If someone doesn't pick it up, it will be thrown in the trash by management. It would be far more responsible to list stuff like that on freecycle or Craig's List, or if it's decent, to donate it to a thrift store.

So there it is. Goodwill -- not so mysterious -- and pretty green.

Speaking of green....
I saw a woman wearing a shirt that said "This white t-shirt is green" Hmmm... I assume that the shirt is organic or that funds were donated to some green cause. But the greenest fashion is used fashion. Check out Arduous' awesome green fashion tips.

The June Food Challenge starts tomorrow. Are you ready? Stop spending so much money on random food. Go as organic as possible (or at least think why you are not doing it), plan meals, and track expenses. I can't wait :)

June Food Challenge

2008-05-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

The last time I filled up my car, it cost over $50. Ouch! Gas prices have been all over the news, and it seems that people are finally starting to change the way/how much they drive. Unfortunately, with the heat, house hunting, and 2 out-of-town vacations over the last couple of weeks, we have been driving more than ever... so much, in fact, that I have not been keeping track.

I went to an elementary school picnic today and many of the parents were talking about the high price of gas and food. One person mentioned that food had gotten so expensive that she had given up on organics. I think that many other people are probably making the same kind of calculations at the grocery store. Organic or conventional? Local or who cares? Meat or veggie? How much veggie? Packaged foods or make your own? So many times, there's a trade-off in taste, time involved, healthiness, price.... it's hard to get everything that we want. For example, I'd love local organic strawberries at a reasonable price, but that just doesn't seem to be happening (4 dollars for a small basket is not what I consider reasonable). My kids want to schnarf down corn dogs, which are certainly convenient, but lacking in the healthy/decent price area (even though I buy veggie corn dogs).

The grocery store price problem and gas prices coincide when I start making too many trips to the store, or when I decide that gas actually costs so much that I might as well go to Expensive Mart, since I can walk.

With a quick look back at recent food bills, I've noticed they've gone up... way up. I actually spent 150 at the store a couple of weeks ago, which has never happened before. Some of this is due to higher prices, but I know that some of it is avoidable. It is very hard for me to cut back spending in the area of food, but I do think that we could be wiser in the way that we purchase food, so I am going to have a special June Food Challenge. Here are the rules:
1. Make a weekly menu and a grocery list.
2. Stick to the grocery list.
3. Limit grocery shopping to one weekly trip plus one smaller trip for fresh foods (such as milk and lettuce) only.
4. Eat as much food from the garden as possible (so, pretty much... tomatoes)
5. Choose organic when possible and financially feasible. Blog when it is not.
6. Record weekly cost of groceries.
7. At end of June, compare to May cost.

Join me in the challenge! Make a comment if you'd like to join.

Lean & Green

2008-05-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

I promised to report on any weight gain after switching from Splenda to sugar. I'm sorry to report that I have been chubbing out, but I don't really blame it on the 1 teaspoon of sugar per morning in my coffee. Instead, I blame my recent habit of inhaling pastries and drinking beer. So sad....

In the past, I was a very successful member of Weight Watchers (I guess I could have a picture with "results not typical" written underneath). I think that WW has a really good program, and if you follow it, I don't see how you couldn't lose weight. If you follow it....

One thing that makes WW really work (I believe) is the meetings. Every week you have to go weigh in and attend a meeting that lasts an hour or less. It's not that bad, and it IS motivating. You don't want to go and find out that you've gained weight, and it's not very fun to have not lost weight. When you do lose weight, everybody claps and sometimes you get a little prize.

The problem with WW is that you have to go to the meetings. Ideally, you would walk/bus/ride bike. But I like to go first thing in the morning, before I've eaten anything, and there are no meetings close by at that time. Instead, I have decided to get on the scale every Monday morning and record my progress on the calendar.

How is weight loss green?

You consume fewer resources. Less food. Don't have to buy new clothes. Are in better shape to walk/ride instead of drive.
If you can motivate yourself to lose weight at home, you can save money from driving to meetings/buying funny diet foods.
You save money (especially if you can do it at home) which you can use for other green activities (perhaps to buy all the organic veggies that you now crave)
You will eat fewer packaged foods, thus reducing the amount of trash that you produce. (Of course, this is only true if you don't rely on packaged diet foods.)

Ah.... motivation. That's the tough part. My motivation has been the desire to look cute in shorts (I know... so shallow). I've also told all my friends and my husband that I'm trying to lose weight, so that I'll be embarrassed to inhale pastries in front of them. So far, so good. I've lost 4 pounds :)

Funny diet foods
WW can be kind of tough because all foods have points, and you only are allowed to eat a certain number of points per day. A way to reduce the points in sweet things is to eat things that are artificially sweetened (for example, you can eat 1/2 cup of ice cream for 4 points or a gigantic Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich for 2 points.... the problem is that the sandwich doesn't really taste like ice cream). I have always thought that it's better to just eat real food, so I'm trying to do that. After a few days of hard core pastry cravings, I've been able to feel (pretty) satisfied with toast with jam on it. Homemade bread with organic strawberry jam.... :) Yum.

Portion control
Portion control is a big deal in WW. Before I did WW, I thought that 3 chocolate chip cookies was a normal, controlled, portion. Hah! I would drink 16 oz. of orange juice at breakfast. No more. So, I could go out and buy portion-controlled food, such as the 100 calorie packages of crackers, tiny tubs of yogurt, etc. But that's not green, and besides, I'm an adult. I have an advanced degree. I can count. If the portion is 12 pretzels, I count to 12 and put the bag away. If I don't want to count, I eat carrots, which don't have points. I don't want to use a lot of extra packaging because I'm too lazy to count or measure. So, I dip a 1/2 cup measure into the yogurt or rice or beans, or whatever.

Those controlled portions are also very expensive.
Wasteful and expensive.... why, God, why?

Vacationing with Kids

2008-05-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

We have 3 children -- currently aged 6, 4 and 2. This summer, they'll all turn 1 year older :)
I LOVE to go on vacation. It's basically the only thing that I'm really willing to spend money on. I'm not really a luxury vacation kind of person, but I have to get away several times a year, or I go crazy. That's why I have a job with lots of vacation built in :)

Before I had children, I used to rent out my apartment every summer, take my giant summer pay check and go to South America for the summer. Things become more complicated with kids, especially when there are 3 of 'em.

Four years ago, we took the two oldest (at the time almost 3 and almost 1 -- I can't believe we did this, looking back) to Spain. We had a great time, but we spent a LOT of money... and this is before the Euro was where it is now. We also realized that because of the fact that we were traveling with kids, we couldn't really do the things that we used to do when we traveled on our own. That's frustrating at times, but can also be good because the nice thing about kids is....

You're "allowed" to do things with kids that you might not normally do as an adult.

For example:

inhale marshmallows straight out of the package if there's a burn ban and you can't make a fire.
float down the river on a giant sea horse raft.
Dance in a circle, twirling a girl on each arm.
Play mommy cat and baby cat.
Lay under the stars, trying to figure out what that moving star is... (aliens?)
Swim "in place" in a river current, with a cheering crowd

I did all these things just this past weekend. Sure, I could have done them on my own, but it doesn't feel goofy at all with kids... it just feels normal.

After our trip to Spain, C and I decided that we needed to focus more on vacationing close to home. It's less expensive (and also creates fewer emissions b/c of no flying!) and is just more realistic for us. When we took the kids to Spain, we spent almost all of our time at the playground or at the beach. When we went to the Prado, my kids kept trying to touch the paintings. They also had a super short attention span. We had a great time eating at bakeries in the mornings. We had fun meeting other families (guess where? beach and playground). To me, it didn't really make sense to travel so far to go to places that we have close to home. (Don't get me wrong... I LOVE Spain... and I know that the beaches and playgrounds are different... but still...)

This weekend, we went to one of the many Texas State Parks. I LOVE the state parks, but had not really spent any time in them until I had kids. Then I decided that they needed a dose of nature and we needed a cheap vacation. We spent 3 nights and 2 days for a total cost of 30 dollars in lodging, 10 dollars in popsicles, and 15 dollars in floats (plus groceries we brought from home). Totally worth it.

Ah... but is it a green vacation?
Yes and no.

Yes:
outdoor, off the grid (no electricity)
give kids and parents appreciation of nature
much better than flying somewhere
picked up some cans and bottles thrown around and brought them home to recycle
State park recycles aluminum :)
Saved shower water & heating of water by bathing in river for 3 days
Saved washing lots of clothes by wearing almost nothing but a bathing suit for 3 days
No:
drove there (I just can't escape this problem it seems... Texas is too darned big)
bought giant plastic sea horse float (I'm sorry! But I swear I'll use it again! And I have a patch kit in case it gets a flat!)
massive use of sunscreen ( but this is really unavoidable in the summertime in Texas unless we stay inside all the time. Of course not the perfectly green kind...)

How Expensive are Kids-- Part IV -- Driving

2008-05-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

We did something very strange when we had our 3rd child -- we downsized our car. We had been driving an Oldsmobile. We sold it and bought a Hyundai. I like the Hyundai. It gets great mileage (on our recent South Padre trip we got about 400 miles to a tank) and the price was right. It doesn't seem to cause any serious problems (knock wood). BUT it is very uncomfortable and 3 car seats barely fit in the back.

3 car seats
When the 3rd child was on her way, I spent a LOT of time searching the internet for cars that would fit 3 car seats because not all of them do. Even then, I searched the dimensions of the car seats and did some crazy shopping with a measuring tape to find the perfect combination that would fit in the back of our car. It works -- barely. What helps is to have a car seat that fastens in front of the child (harness) rather than a booster for as long as possible. We tried to move our 4 yo into a booster seat but found it impossible to fasten the seatbelt.

So what does this have to do with being green?

Having 3 young children really affects car choice. You can't buy a really small car because all the car seats won't fit. I guess you could buy a hybrid SUV, but it's probably better just to have a regular car (and certainly easier on the wallet). Our budget for a car was around 5000, so we got as green as we could given our needs -- we could NOT fit in a car any smaller -- even 1 inch smaller in the back seat would not work.

It also affects the need for driving. For example, yesterday I took my kids to a really awesome park with spurting fountains (it's 95 degrees... we needed water). It is 3 miles away. Here were my options:

a. Bike to park with girls in trailer. J (6 yo) rides his own bike.
PRO: totally green
CON: OMG it's SO hot. J would cry and probably refuse to ride home. His limit is about 1.5 miles at a time.

b. Take the bus.
PRO: pretty darn green.
CON: have to walk .5 miles to bus stop and then bus does not go directly to park. Probably need to walk .75 miles at other end = crying and heat. Would take at least 1 hour to get there (and then another hour back)

c. Drive
PRO: fast, no crying, go directly to park
CON: car is really hot
drove 6 miles

These are not great choices. What did I do?

I drove

I guess there's also:

d. Don't go.

But I do that a lot. This was a special treat.

Turtles and Tomatoes

2008-05-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

I'm back from vacation -- my family and I went to South Padre Island for 5 days -- we had a great time, but I won't count the mileage because it's just too painful. While we were gone a horrible storm hit Austin, taking out some crucial parts of my garden. The squash may not make a comeback... the pole beans.... well, let's just say it's not pretty. They got completely knocked over. About 1/2 did not get up-rooted. We'll see how it goes.

What did survive without any problems were the tomatoes. Thanks to the giant cages, they didn't get hurt when the beans fell over. They are covered with fruit and on my first day back from vacation I was able to harvest 2 little tomatoes, 1 patty pan squash (hopefully this is not the only one I get) and some lettuce.

My youngest was delighted with the tomatoes and carried the harvest around the house in a little bowl. When I wanted to make a salad for lunch today, I couldn't find them, so I had to look in her room. Sure enough, she had put them in her backpack. That explains why when we left this morning she had called out "Adios tomates!"

I only wish that she would actually eat them....

Turtles
One of the days that we were in South Padre, we saw a sea turtle on the beach laying eggs. It was amazing! She was surrounded by tourists and volunteers from Sea Turtle Inc. I did not really understand why so many people were crowded around (and the volunteers were calling other people, including us, over to watch) because there were signs all over the place telling people not to disturb the sea turtles.

The next day, I took the kids to Sea Turtle Inc. for a very interesting presentation and a chance to feed the turtles in their hospital (they like romaine lettuce, apparently). The volunteer explained that the turtle is in a "trance" while she is laying eggs. The volunteers were gathering the eggs as she laid them in order to bring them to a safe place.

They also explained to the kids about the problems with plastic bags and sea turtles. When a plastic bag gets into the water, it looks an awful lot like a jelly fish, which sea turtles like to eat (probably before the lettuce?). I had heard this before, but when the volunteer held up the bag, it really did look like a jelly fish, and it finally made sense to me. The kids remembered too.

How Expensive are Kids? -- Part III

2008-05-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

Lately the price of food has been getting me down. It seems that every time that I go to the grocery store, the bill is higher. Meanwhile, we are eating much less meat than we used to, rarely buy canned beans, make our own bread and soy milk... What is going on?

The higher price of food is all over the news. Milk is higher, which has made all milk products more expensive. The price of wheat is higher, which has made pizza places and bakeries raise their prices. I have not really noticed a higher price on flour, but the high price of milk really hurts. I have 3 young children, and the youngest can really put away some milk. We decided to switch to organic milk, and the price of organic milk (not the happy stuff in glass bottles, mind you, but just regular factory organic milk) is from 4.99 to 5.49 a gallon, depending on where I buy it. That's at LEAST 40 dollars a month in milk. Then there's cheese. About $5 a pound, and lots more if I buy organic.

This week's Newsweek has an article about people changing back from organic because of the rising cost of food. There are certain things that I am consistent about with organic -- I like the organic milk, but can't bring myself to pay for the cheese. I buy organic yogurt (2.99 for a big container) but not ice cream (don't buy much of that because I would just eat it all). I can't afford organic green peppers, so I usually just leave them out. I'm waiting for them to grow in my garden. I only buy grass-fed beef, so I buy really small quantities. Depending on what I'm making, sometimes I mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with veggie crumbles.

I'd like to buy more organic produce, but I just can't afford it. The grocery bill keeps going up... not just because of higher prices, but because my children eat more as they grow. So I pick and choose. I experimented with CSA, but it just wasn't worth it for me. It cost $30 a week for vegetables that for the most part were not things that my family would normally eat, and that my kids generally didn't touch. The last week I had to toss a few things because they rotted before we could eat them. We NEVER throw away food, so that was the breaking point for me.

My kids eat lots of fruit, so I spend a good deal of money on that. Sometimes organic -- usually not. Who am I kidding? I can't spend $5 on a pound of strawberries that will be gone in 5 minutes. At the same time, I know that conventional berries are sprayed with a lot of pesticides, so I try to emphasize fruits with peels and/or fruits that are not on the "dirty dozen" list. So we eat lots of bananas, oranges, grapefruits, organic apples and mangoes. My kids also LOVE canned peaches and pineapple, which are quite affordable, but lately I've been wondering if I'm slowly poisoning them with the plastic can lining.

What about you? Have you noticed higher prices? Have they changed the decisions that you make at the grocery store?

How Expensive are Children -- Part II

2008-05-11T21:54:00.001-07:00

I love it when the green choice and the frugal choice are the same. One example of this is in clothing. Judging from the marketing, it seems like the green choice is clothing made out of bamboo or organic cotton, died with soy-based inks, definitely not bleached, etc.... Nope -- the greenest choice is to buy used clothing. No new resources are used, we are keeping the clothes out of the landfill, and any leftover money can be used to do green things that might cost a little extra.

When the clothes are a little destroyed (shirts with a minor stain, but still really comfy, pants with a tear), they can live a new life as play clothes (or gardening clothes), pajamas, rags, quilts, stuffing.... the possibilities go on and on. Just a few days ago, I taught my son to sew. He made a little pillow, and since we didn't have any stuffing, we cut up a piece of an old t-shirt to use as stuffing. The project cost nothing, and he now has a pillow for his bear.

We gave up paper towels a long time ago, and now we use rags for wiping the floor and for groddy spills. If it's something really gross, I sometimes throw the rag away because I just can't face washing it, but there's really not a shortage of rags. I Goodwill or pass on any useful clothes, but if the clothes are destroyed, I just pop them straight in the rag basket. I have a separate basket for dirty rags so that they don't contaminate our regular clothes.

How Expensive are Children?

2008-05-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

Before I had kids, I didn't really believe that they could cost a lot of money. After I had my son, I still didn't really believe it. After all, our grocery bill barely changed (because he was nursing). I used diapers, but I didn't buy the expensive ones, so that was the only major expense we had -- maybe 40 dollars a month. We were given just about everything else that we needed (or didn't need) at baby showers (yes... we had more than one... people were very excited).

Now that I have three children, and they are a little older, I see that they actually DO cost a lot of money. How much money, though, depends a lot on decisions that you make. For babies, you really don't need to buy anything. People give you just about everything you need (for clothes) at baby showers. If no one gives you a baby shower, baby clothes are dirt cheap at garage sales and there is an awesome selection at Goodwill. Babies will poop on or spit up on whatever they wear, so there's no need to spend money on new clothes. If you have a bassinet, it's handy, but otherwise just spring for a crib. The baby will only sleep in the bassinet for a few months.

Most importantly, nurse the baby. Formula is insanely expensive. The first month or so of nursing can be hard, but then it gets easy. It has the added benefit of helping the mom lose weight. (I think it's interesting that no one told me how hard nursing was before I had a baby. It was a total mystery to me. I had a baby, they handed it to me, and somehow I was supposed to figure out what to do. I understood the theory -- nipple goes in baby's mouth -- but putting that into practice took a little figuring out.)

Once kids get to school age, they get more expensive. They eat a lot more and they tend to be a little pickier about what they eat. My son won't touch stuff that he loved as a baby. I have pictures of him covered with lasagna, but now it freaks him out and he has to re-realize that he likes it every time I serve it. He used to scarf down beans and baby peas. Now? Ha!

Clothes are also a problem. The pickings are slim at Goodwill, and there are no 6-year old showers. Kids get toys for their birthdays and Christmas, which is the absolute last thing they need. School age clothes also are more expensive than baby clothes and tend to get really worn out (that's why I think there's not as much selection at thrift stores, particularly with boy's clothes.)

So.... what to do about the clothes? I almost never buy my kids new clothes. Not because I'm mean, but because I do this:

Let people know you're open to used clothes. Then they will pass on their stuff to you.
Pass on your old stuff to other people. Used clothes karma really pays off.
If I see jeans in my son's size at Goodwill, I buy them. I have trouble finding jeans that fit (he's slim, so he needs slim jeans... try finding these that don't look like throwbacks from the 80s and have no holes.)
Keep an eye out at garage sales and other thrift stores -- I won't go to a garage sale looking for kid clothes (because it's usually the wrong size), but if I pass by, I'll always take a look.
I'm willing to buy used shoes. They have to look nice and they can't be too used. Kids DESTROY shoes, so I feel like this is alright. We went to a wedding and my son needed dress shoes, so I bought a pair for $3. They had probably been worn one other time.

I could make everything work even better if I made the kids change clothes when they come home from school. That way they would not need as many outfits, because the clothes really get destroyed from playing outside. I've been trying to do this, but need to work on it.

I think the main key is to be open to used clothes. There are a lot of kids' clothes getting passed around -- if you build up karma and are happy to receive, it's not too hard to clothe the kids economically.

Food, on the other hand..... can be a serious problem. These little people just KEEP eating! :)

Second Time's the Charm!

2008-05-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

Today we went to my brother's house for a BBQ. We had a great time. Thanks Gato Negro! (that's what he wants his alias to be :) )

Last time we went to Gato Negro's house, which is 15 miles round trip, we had a park and ride disaster. We missed the bus on the way home, and we ended up getting a ride home in 2 different cars. Today we valiently tried the same trip, but with success!

Here's what we did:

We parked on the street near a bus stop (total driving: 2 miles). We took the bus across town and then walked 2 blocks to my brother's house. My kids like the bus, it was on time, and the weather was very pleasant, so it was quite enjoyable. The trip there took about 40 minutes and included 3 types of transportation (driving, riding the bus, walking). On the way, my kids tickled each other and my son pointed to someone asking for money on the street -- "Look! He's poor." Luckily, he did not point to anyone on the bus and say the same thing, because that would have been awkward.

We had to time our departure a little bit. We could either leave immediately after my dad, or wait another hour. We left right after him because the little one was getting pretty cranky. We had some trouble finding the bus stop on the other side of the street, but we had allotted some extra time, so it was not a problem. We walked four blocks on the way back. The bus was right on time, and dropped us off across the street from our car. In all, the return trip took about 45 minutes, about 10 of it spent waiting for the bus.

I think the key to something like this working is to not be in a hurry. I like riding the bus with my kids better than driving with them in the car. It takes longer, but it feels like time we are actually together. In the car, I can't really see them and often can't really hear them. We have 3 car seats in the back of a compact car, so everybody's squished and often poking each other. The bus is roomier, more interesting (?) and we can actually talk to each other. My son also points out all the poor people* that he sees. I'm not really sure what to think about that.

*Austin has a pretty large homeless population (Austin Health and Human Services estimates 3625). Every day my children see people on the streets with signs asking for money/work. They also see people sleeping and living under bridges. I have talked about this with my kids to some extent, but I'm not sure how deep to get into the problem. My kids think of all these people as "poor people" and always want to give them money. Obviously, they are not just poor, but my children are pretty young, so I haven't gone really in-depth.

Easy Green Happy Hour

2008-05-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

How to have an easy green happy hour:

This worked really well because at our Whole Foods, you can buy wine, they will open it for you, and there is a really nice deck/patio thingy.

1. Invite people. Everybody picks a buddy.
2. One buddy buys drink, one buddy buys snacks. This way, you don't end up with 10 bottles of wine and no food.
3. One person brings picnic cups for everybody. (I have lots of plastic dinosaur cups -- they are a good size for a glass of wine, and it's not too hard to bring 10. Glass would be nicer, but more complicated.)
4. Compost all the food waste/paper after HH.
5. Recycle the (many!) bottles.

We did this last night, and it was really fun. It was also extremely stress-free and relaxing :)

Wed. Driving Update

2008-05-01T08:17:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know that today is not Wednesday. But I am swamped with grading. I have also apparently lost my mind.

The mileage on the car (I checked twice) is 97304.
Last Wednesday it was 96933.

That means that this week we have driven 371 miles. Have I gone crazy? Did I go joy-riding in my sleep? I don't see how that's possible. So, I have no idea what that means, and I will have to be more careful with the math next week.

Driving Decisions

2008-04-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

C has a job that is pretty far away (maybe 12 miles?). He really hates to drive (especially since last month, when he "divorced" the car, but sometimes they have to get together again). It's hard to bike/bus sometimes because, depending on the shift that he works, he gets out very late.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I can't take the bus or bike to work because I wouldn't make it home in time to meet the kids.

So.... what do we do? A couple of years ago, we sold our second car and bought a scooter. When we both need to "motor" somewhere, the person who needs to go farther takes the scooter so that we can save gas. Of course, this does not ALWAYS work because the scooter can't go over 35, so we have to be able to take slower roads, but in the case of us both going to work on a Tuesday, it works out fine. I drive about 8 miles in the car roundtrip, versus about 24 for C. It also saves money. The gas prices are killing me -- it actually cost over $4.00 to fill up my scooter -- that's insane! (Don't you love that I can complain about a $4.00 fill-up?) But I'm being serious. Filling up the car costs a bundle, so we're really trying not to drive.

How much do you think gas will need to cost for people to cut down on driving? Is the price making you reduce your driving? Do you ever think about how much a trip will cost?

It's an important calculation to make. For example, the other day I needed parmesan cheese (okay... maybe not a total necessity, but spaghetti is just not the same without it.) I can get it at ExpensiveMart for about .60 more than at the regular grocery story. But the grocery store is at least 10 miles round trip. I can walk to ExpensiveMart. Hmmmmm....

Friends

2008-04-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been thinking about how wonderful it is to have friends. Grad school has been a really special time for me, because I have more friends now than I have ever had. They're almost all girls, which is also pretty new.

Last year my friends snuck in my apartment while I was on vacation and totally redecorated it. It was the best gift I've ever received, and if I'm ever feeling down or lonely, it's something that I can think of -- they re-did my WHOLE apartment. They bought new sheets! They cleaned the bathroom (oh God...)! It was amazing.

Of course, that's a huge gift. But friends don't have to re-do your apartment to be great friends. My dad forwarded me an article from the New York Times about how to maintain strong friendships. Apparently the secret is to return your friend's calls. Reciprocity is the key to BFF. Some comments on the article mentioned that the study did not look at IM, e-mail, etc. I love e-mail (sort of), but for me, nothing replaces a phone call. Hearing my friend's voice, and the immediacy of the call, the natural flow of the conversation... you just don't get that on the computer.

You've probably also heard about the research that says that people with more friends live longer -- they don't even have to be close friends -- just people that you know and talk to on a regular basis. The more of these contacts a person has, the happier and healthier they are.

What does this have to do with being green?
What's more green than being a friend? I've noticed that my friends and I exude a gentle green peer pressure. No one is really preachy, but we do talk about the issues, and certain green actions are becoming the norm among our group.

I've also noticed that my desire to help the environment and my community has made me reach out in ways I might not otherwise -- I e-mailed the PTA President, I offered to let a neighbor use my recycling bin, I contacted the campus Environmental Group. I was pretty much a slug last semester, but it feels good to reach out.

Clean Coal? - Take Action!

2008-04-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

On Monday I reported that Dynegy is building six new coal-fired power plants. They claim that these power plants use "clean coal technology". What the heck is that?

Dynegy plans to complete the Sandy Creek Power Plant in Riesel, Texas (east of Waco) in 2012. Just when you think that the country will be making moves towards more environmentally sound energy sources, more coal-fired plants are being built. The NYTimes reported (April 23) that coal-fired plants are also going up in Europe. In the next five years, "European countries are expected to put into operation about 50 coal-fired plants" and Italy will increase its reliance on coal from 14 to 33 percent. Why is this happening?

Here's my summary:

There is plenty of coal. It is projected to last for the next 200 years. (of course, we have to blow up mountains to get to it, but that's okay because I don't live near a mountain.)
Coal is relatively cheap. (Low grade coal, which gives off less energy per ton, is even cheaper.)
Companies have done some fancy greenwashing, claiming they use "clean coal technology". What's that? Basically it means that less soot and gases (nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide) are emitted into the air. That's good, but it does NOT EFFECT EMISSION OF CARBON DIOXIDE.
Companies say that in the future they will use carbon capture technology to store the carbon emissions underground. That's nice, but this technology does not exist yet, and when (if?) it does, it will be very expensive to implement. In addition, stored carbon can be dangerous if there is a leak.

We are already in trouble with the current level of emissions, and adding coal-fired plants just makes it worse. Power companies need to invest in cleaner power sources. People everywhere need to work towards more efficient use of power.

If Dynegy goes through with all 6 plants, it will become U.S. Coal-Fired Polluter #1! The increased emissions from this ONE company will make our personal efforts irrelevant. Should we despair? NO! Should we stop taking personal action? Of COURSE not! But the more I read about this, the more I realize that we must make our voices heard.

What can we do?

1. Write to Dynegy and tell them what you think:

Corporate Headquarters

1000 Louisiana Street
Suite 5800
Houston, Texas 77002
713.507.6400

2. If you live in the Houston area, join the protest during the shareholder's meeting:
May 14, Protest outside Dynegy shareholders’ meeting, Wednesday, 9am to 1pm, in Houston, at the Galleria at on 5100 West Alabama, between Post Oak and Sage Road.

3. Join the Sierra Club's National Campaign against Coal-Fired Power Plants:
http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/takeaction/

Thursday Experiment -- Cast Iron Pancakes & Bagless Trash

2008-04-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

This Thursday I am reporting on the results of two cutting-edge case studies.

Study 1: The Effect of Cast Iron Skillet on the Shape of Pancakes
Research Question: Is it possible to make pancakes that don't get wrinkled while using a cast iron skillet?
Results: Yes. All the pancakes turned out beautifully. I started with some butter in the pan, but did not need to re-grease as I went along.
Observations: Although this study is limited by the fact that it is a case study, and the small sample size (only 15 pancakes), it seems to indicate that it is possible to get satisfactory pancake production using cast iron. The pancakes also have a high iron content, which may prevent anemia.

Study 2: Trash without Plastic Bags: Aesthetic and Environmental Effects
Research Question: What happens when kitchen trash is put into the trashcan with no plastic liner bag?
Method: Family puts all kitchen trash (food scraps, wrappers, etc.) into small trashcan with no liner.
Results: The subjects noticed a rank odor. When the trash was emptied into the dumpster, the bottom of the trashcan was covered with stinky food particles. Subject had to rinse the trashcan 4 times before it was aesthetically acceptable again. Subject reported feeling like she was "going to hurl" when she emptied the trash.
Observations: Further study is necessary, but it appears that at least in this family, although using no plastic bag may help the environment, it is aesthetically unacceptable. It may also be a boon to the raccoons, who will surely have easier access to their snacks without having to rip open a bag when they go into the dumpster. This is an important area for future research.

Is anybody aware of any other studies about trash? What do the plastic free people do? I don't have a disposal, and I can't compost all my kitchen trash (not enough worms yet), so I have quite a bit of soggy, organic trash. BLECH.

Driving Update

2008-04-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

169 car miles this week -- 80 from camping. The rest of the miles were either from driving kids across town to visit MIL or for work (which couldn't be done on bike or scooter).

I'm seeing that it is very difficult to get our weekly mileage much lower. The only way that could reduce it further would be to move closer to my MIL or.... that's really all I can think of. Unfortunately, that's not really going to work because, although I love my MIL, she lives near a bad elementary school. I also prefer living close to town.

image from xtracycle.com

I have thought about getting an xtracycle to make hauling the kids around a little easier, but I'm not sure if it would really cut down on car trips.

What are the main reasons that we drive?

car pool -- we share with 2 other families, so we only drive every 3 days. If we biked the kids to school, it would not cut out that much mileage. Plus, it would be a big pain. Next year, my daughter will be able to ride this bus so this will not be an issue. If I wake up late, the xtracycle would help get the kids to school without driving, however.
camping -- I'm not in good enough shape to haul the kids and all the gear at least 30 miles.
grocery shopping -- could be done on an xtracycle -- kind of a long ride (10 miles round trip unless I want to go to ExpensiveMart)
have to pick up large heavy objects and transport them around town. Could be done on xtracycle.
Bring kids to MIL -- can be done on bus, but takes a long time. Too far to be realistic for xtracycle.
Going to work in bad weather -- besides the car, the bus is the best option here. Unfortunately, out of the 4 jobs that C and I have, only one can be reached without transferring or walking a long way. All jobs could be reached via bike, but would arrive wet. Hmmmmmm....

Any suggestions?

Earth Day Eve

2008-04-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Earth Day. Do you have anything special planned?

I keep thinking back to Garbage -- the Revolution Starts at Home. In the movie, a man whose life is basically ruined by the coal mining surrounding him says "think of this when you turn on your lights". He is surrounded by a wasteland. He hears explosions several times a day, which cause his land to crack. There are cracks hundreds of feet deep that just appear in the middle of his land. Families that live near the mine live with polluted air that makes them and their families sick. There is an elementary school directly in the line of a huge lake of toxic waste created by the mining. The man in this segment refuses to sell his land, but his fight against the corporations seems so futile... it's sickening.

How is your energy produced? Chances are that it's coal. More than half of the energy in the US is from coal-powered power plants, which produce HUGE amounts of greenhouse gases.

We need to reduce our reliance on coal and invest in clean energy such as solar and wind. But that is not enough! We must increase efficiency. Some may say that this will cause a loss of jobs. I disagree -- new jobs will be needed in research and development of efficient technology, and quality of life will be improved for all.

Dynegy, a Texas-based company, has plans for six new coal-powered plants. They have been targeted by the Sierra Club for their pollution. According to Sierra Club:

Taken together, Dynegy’s six planned coal-fired power plants would spew an estimated 44 million tons of global warming pollution into the air each year – making them one of the single largest sources of such pollution in the U.S.

One of the single largest sources.....

So what can we do? I suggest that, in honor of Earth Day, we do two things:
1. Join the protest. Go to the Sierra Club website and sign the petitions. Tell your friends.
2. Turn off the lights you're not using. Every time I turn on the lights now, I think of that man in the movie, surrounded by blown-up mountains. He is living a hell on earth so that I can leave the light on in an empty room? That's just wrong.

Who needs toys?

2008-04-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

After lashing out against toys and stickers, I had a wonderful toy-free weekend. We took the kids camping, and once again, I was amazed at what kids really like to play with.

Not ONCE did they ask for their toys. They played with sticks, they built "beds" out of pine needles, they went on hikes, they made friends at the playground. We laid on sleeping bags and looked at the stars. We talked about the moon. We sang every song that anyone knew the words to. It was wonderful.

At home I try to be a fairly relaxed person, but I still feel like I am zooming from one thing to another. With all the distractions at home, even when we are all in the house, we can go a long time without actually talking to each other. So it's nice to get away from everything... to get out into nature a little bit ... to look for animals, and just slow down in general. My kids have learned a lot from camping (sometimes they've learned the hard way -- like, don't run around cactus at night) and I find myself learning too as I explain things to them. For now, we are doing car camping because we bring a lot of stuff with us and can't really hike very far with the kids. When they get older, I'd like to try some primitive camping because I think that it might be even more fun -- and the kids are always amazed when we pass primitive campers on the trail.

Thursday Experiment - Okara Granola

2008-04-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

It has been really fun to try new things in the journey to greenness. Last week, I learned how to make soy milk at home. It's so easy that I've already made it again. When you make soy milk, you are left with the squished out chopped beans -- if you squeeze them really well to get all the soy milk out, you are left with dry fluffy okara.

There are many recipes for using okara. I was skeptical, but I decided to give okara granola a try. I had dried the raw okara for about 90 minutes in a low oven, then kept it in the refrigerator. Because we put sugar and vanilla in the soy milk before filtering it, our okara has a sort of cookie-like smell which is very nice. My two year old started eating it with a spoon -- "yummy beans mommy". I figured that if she was eating it straight up, then we should start using it.

I googled "okara granola" and found several recipes. My favorite is the one at Zlamushka's spicy kitchen. I chose this recipe because I had all the ingredients and because it did not call for oil, which I thought was interesting. Most granola recipes seem to use a lot of fat. This one used yogurt (weird, huh?)

It was great! In fact, it's better than great! It may be the best granola I've ever had. My kids are eating it. I'm eating it. You would never guess that beans are the main ingredient. Once again, C and I looked at each other in amazement. The only drawback is that it takes a long time to cook (again, about 90 minutes in a low oven). I have two comments on the granola-making:

1. I don't think I needed to cook the raw okara before using it in the granola. Cooking it twice seems like overkill (of course, ours was already cooked before we decided what to do with it, but next time....)

2. I would use more yogurt in the recipe. I like chunkier granola, and the yogurt seemed to be the thing that made the granola stick together.

Try it out -- you'll love it!

Driving Update

2008-04-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

Since last week, we've driven 189 miles. Actually, that's not true. I only drove about 10 of those miles. The rest was trips across town to my mother-in-law's house and "business" trips. There were, once again, 4 miles to the elementary school because I overslept and had to drive my son to school.

One of my friends says I sound like a drug-dealer when I put "business". Let's just make it clear -- there is no drug-dealing involved. So, from now on, no quotes. :)

On NPR this morning, I heard that el Presidente said that we should stabilize greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. Time describes this as "revising his stance on global warming." I guess. So he admits there's global warming, but we are only going to cap it in 17 years?! I don't understand why we can't cap it NOW and then work to reduce. As a teacher, I can relate this to teaching in three ways:

1. El Pres. complains that other countries need to do their part. True. But we need to serve as an example. The other kids in the class will follow the example of the cool kids. You don't want to be the last kid in the class pronouncing the "h" in "hola".

2. People rise to high standards and lower themselves to low standards. If your class is a blow-off class, nobody does any work. If your class is demanding, students will rise to meet the expectations.

3. Most people need a test to make themselves study. I'm a big nerd, but without a test, I do nothing. When I'm assessed, I make the changes in my life (studying -- blah) to do well. Companies are not going to do anything until they have to. Yes, that can come from consumer pressure, but that's not happening fast enough. We need to legislate change so we don't leave a terrible environmental legacy for our children (or our golden years!)

Or how about the parenting argument? Imagine this discipline technique.

Mom: Bobby -- you are hurting your sister. Stop hitting her by the time you're 23.
Bobby: Uh... okay.
Suzy: Ow! Ow! (for the next 17 years)

How do you think this is going to turn out? Not well. Actually, that argument is a little off, because Bobby should actually be able to increase his hitting until the age of 23, at which point he has to cap it, then reduce.

(I think I might sound like a crackpot in this post. If so, I'm sorry, and I'll try to sound more normal in the next one... the Thursday Experiment!... it's going to be AWESOME!)

Guardian of the Plastic

2008-04-15T18:46:00.001-07:00

Do you ever feel like you are hoarding trash? Sometimes I do. For example, what am I supposed to do with a plastic bottle that held moisturizer? There's no recycling number on it, so I can't recycle it. Maybe I could use it for something else in the future. I keep trying to convince myself it's a fun bath toy, but really all that happens is that the kids squirt water on the floor.

How long do I have to hang on to plastic stuff that I don't want? I feel bad just chunking it in the trash, but that seems to be its destiny.

Also.... stickers. Stickers are the bane of my existence. There is nothing good to be said of them. Kids stick them on the furniture, on the walls, on the windows, on the floor, on their bodies (and then cry when you peel them off). Of course, they can't be recycled. They're just trash. Please stop giving my children trash! (This is directed to the world at large, including WF ... I don't care if the stickers are of dolphins.)

Can you tell I've had a frustrating day? Actually, it hasn't been too bad, but the stickers have been weighing on me lately.

An interesting plastic turning point has occurred this week -- our huge stockpile of plastic bags that we have been using as trash bags came to an end. What are we supposed to put our trash in? I feel like this is a dumb question, and there must be a really obvious answer, but really.... tell me. Here are the options that I can think of:

paper bags -- but it will get gross and leak
put the trash in other bags and non-recyclable containers -- this is what we're doing, but it makes a big mess.
no bag -- C is fond of this option, but I find it icky.

It's true... I have a huge trash aversion (well, who doesn't?). The trash is totally C's department, but since I do most of the throwing of stuff in the trash, I probably get the most exposure to the trashcan. So, what to do?

The average American throws out 4.5 lbs. of trash a day. That means my family would be responsible for 22.5 lbs. of trash (a day!). I think that we're below average, but we still seem to throw out a lot of trash. The worms are helping out, little by little, but they really need to reproduce.

Be Green -- Do Nothing!

2008-04-14T15:17:00.001-07:00

In The Tightwad Gazette, Amy Dacyczyn explains that when reporters come to her house, they want to see her doing tightwad things, so they frequently take pictures of her hanging the laundry. She thinks, however, that what is even more important are the things she doesn't do. For example, she doesn't buy fruit snacks (but that doesn't make for a very compelling photo op.)

Another piece of advice in her book is to keep reducing the amounts of stuff that you use until it's not enough. For example, do you really need 1/2 c. of laundry detergent? Or will 3/8 of a cup do? If 3/8 is enough, maybe 1/4 is.... Do you need to cover your whole toothbrush with toothpaste? Or is a "pea-size amount" (like the dentist says) enough? Or even less? My dentist told me that it's the brushing, not the toothpaste, that really matters.

To me, these two pieces of advice go hand in hand. Sometimes, to be green, or to be a tightwad, or to be both, we don't actually have to DO anything. We just don't do something:

Don't go shopping. (This is an amazing time saver.)
Don't change the sheets every week.
Don't wash the towel every time you use it. You dry off your CLEAN body.
Don't wash your jeans every day. Really. Unless you work outdoors or something, they're just not that dirty. If it doesn't bother you to wait two days, and no one notices, go for three...
Don't go to the store for 1/4 teas. of a mystery spice; just leave it out.
Don't make meat for dinner -- just eat side dishes. I was a vegetarian for over 10 years, and my favorite meal was Thanksgiving. Not because of the turkey -- blech! -- because of the sides.
Don't take a shower before bed and when you wake up. Really. How dirty ARE you?
Don't flush the toilet every time you use it. This is gross for some people. But how about this: if you take all your kids into a public restroom, do you flush after each person? Or does everyone pee and then you flush? (This assumes they are little kids and you go in with them. I personally think it's grosser to flush after each person. I just imagine all the bacteria flying into the air.)

Not doing anything can make a real difference. Here's an easy example:

Imagine that you normally change the sheets every 7 days, or 52 times a year.
You get radical, and decide that every 8 days is enough. Now you only wash your sheets 45.625 times a year (let's round to 45, because you leave town and let it go a couple more days.)
That's 7 fewer washes a year, saving 7 loads of water, the energy to heat it (if you're still washing with hot water), the detergent, and the energy to change the sheets.
Laziness pays off! Did it make a real difference? Did that extra day push you over the edge? Probably not.

Changes So Far

2008-04-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

I really like it when other bloggers list changes that they have made (like No Impact Man recently did), so I thought I'd make my own list.

So far, we:
1. Started recycling.
2. Use only cloth napkins.
3. Use rags instead of paper towels.
4. Switched to cloth diapers & wipes for baby. **
5. Make our own bread.
6. Stopped using artificial sweetener.
7. Traded in one car for a scooter.
8. Ride bike/scoot instead of drive as much as possible.
9. Went camping over spring break instead of road trip.
10. Print on both sides of paper.
11. Use weird-shaped paper and envelopes for grocery lists and notes.
12. Print all work documents on both sides.
13. Stopped buying laundry detergent -- make our own.
14. Stopped buying liquid body soap -- use bar soap.
15. Bring own bags to grocery store.
16. Bring own bags and containers for bulk.
17. Bring own plates to picnics, etc.
18. Got rid of non-stick pans -- use stainless steel or cast iron. **
19. Turn off lights when not in use.
20. Conserve water in bath tub -- shared baths for kids.
21. Wash clothes in cold water.
22. Hang clothes dry.
23. Bring cup to coffee shop.
24. Use non-disposable coffee filter.
25. Buy fair-trade coffee.
26. Buy organic milk. **
27. Buy as much as possible used.
28. Stopped buying greeting cards -- homemade instead.
29. Reuse wrapping paper and gift bags.
30. Don't buy juice boxes for parties; serve juice with cups.
31. Bring basket of silverware to parties instead of disposable.
32. Bring disposable silverware and extra napkins home so they are not thrown in the trash.
33. Garden
34. Go to the library instead of buying books/videos
35. (I can't believe I forgot this one and had to come back) -- compost with WORMS

That's all I can think of for now. Here are the explanations for the starred items.
**4. Cloth diapers are totally awesome. I feel like a chump that I did not use them for my first two kids. They are inexpensive, they work well, and they have great re-sale value. That said, I could not find a good system for the night. My daughter pees A LOT at night. Even disposable diapers did not hold in the flood. Even a cloth diaper with a disposable doubler. Even two cloth diapers (and then she could barely walk because of all the bulk). The only thing that has worked is pull-ups. So, she wears a pull-up every night. :(
**18. I am afraid to get rid of the last pan because of pancakes. I will try them in cast-iron, but I am afraid they'll stick. Cast-iron is supposed to be naturally non-stick if it is properly seasoned, but that doesn't seem to be working so far.
**26. This took a long time. Organic milk is expensive and my children are milkaholics. BUT we finally made the switch (the increased price of regular milk actually helped.. when the difference was only a dollar, it didn't seem that bad.) I also buy organic yogurt, but I don't buy other organic milk products, which makes me feel hypocritical and bad.

Can you tell I'm suffering from environmental guilt? To be honest, today I'm pretty sick of feeling guilty. Now that I've made the list, I can see that I have made a lot of changes...

Do you suffer from environmental guilt? Do you ever just want to say "to heck with it all!"? What do you tell yourself?

Plastic Waste at Public Events

2008-04-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

On Friday, my family went to a festival at the elementary school. A potluck dinner was part of the festival. Knowing this, we brought our own plates, cups and utensils. Bottled water was free at the festival (donated by WF. Why?) We filled up our cups with water from the fountain. That was no problem.

Last time we brought our plates, it was a big mess. This time was an improvement because I brought a plastic bag to put the dirty plates in. All in all, it was pretty easy. Blech factor? Not too bad. It just took a little thinking ahead.

Laundry detergent update:
A couple of weeks ago, I made my own laundry detergent. The results are in -- it works! Actually, C and I think it may be even better than the store-bought stuff. The clothes are clean, and they have an appealing clean (but not chemical) smell.